The city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania marked the one-year anniversary of the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in United States history Sunday, a year after Robert Gregory Bowers burst into the Tree of Life Or L’Simcha synagogue and opened fire, killing eleven people and wounding six.
While the three congregations directly affected by the massacre – Tree of Life Or L’Simcha; Dor Hadash; and the New Light Congregation - marked the anniversary, a central event was held at the city’s Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall Sunday.
The eleven people killed inside of the Tree of Life synagogue were:
Joyce Fienberg, 75
Richard Gottfried, 65
Rose Mallinger, 97
Jerry Rabinowitz, 66
Cecil Rosenthal, 59
David Rosenthal, 54 – Cecil Rosenthal’s younger brother
Bernice Simon, 84
Sylvan Simon, 86 – Bernice Simon’s husband. The couple was married 63 years ago at the synagogue where the shooting took place.
Daniel Stein, 71
Melvin Wax, 88
Irving Younger, 69
In addition, six people – not including the gunman, who was wounded during a shootout with police – were injured during the attack, including four officers.