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Gov. Tom Wolf prepares to place a wreath honoring the Tree of Life synagogue victims in front of the execution wall at Auschwitz. He toured the complex on Saturday, Sept. 14.
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Memorials for Tree of Life victims established abroad

Amanda Berg/Office of Governor Tom Wolf

Memorials for Tree of Life victims established abroad

From Israel to Auschwitz, victims of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting have been memorialized.

Russell Robinson, CEO of the Jewish National Fund-USA, was at the organization’s conference in Phoenix, Ariz., when the shooting happened and remembers the scramble to increase security, in hopes of thwarting off any copycat attempts.

Quickly and quietly, another effort unfolded behind the scenes. A major donor reached out to Mr. Robinson and said he wanted to help in some way. Over the coming weeks, board members coordinated and they decided to erect a plaque in Israel.

Now, a plaque made of Jerusalem stone and listing the names of the 11 people who died in the shooting sits at the 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza, overlooking the city of Jerusalem. Separately, people have donated more than 190 trees to be planted nearby in memory of the Tree of Life shooting victims.

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Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto saw the memorial earlier this year, when he and a friend went to visit the 9/11 memorial and stumbled upon it by accident.

“I didn’t know it was there. He didn't know it was there, but you saw their names in Israel,” Mr. Peduto said.

Separately, Gov. Tom Wolf paid tribute to the victims when he traveled to Europe this fall to meet with National Guard members. The governor stopped at concentration camps in Lithuania and Poland.

During a trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the most infamous camps run by Nazis during World War II, the governor placed a wreath in honor of the Tree of Life shooting victims and etched their names in a guest book.

The workers at Auschwitz-Birkenau had already heard of the Tree of Life shooting before the governor’s trip.

“This is a reminder that these hateful ideologies did not disappear, that we live in a difficult world,” said Pawel Sawicki, a tour guide and press officer at Auschwitz-Birkenau. 

“And, therefore,” he added, “I believe our mission is not over.”

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Anya Sostek contributed to this report.

First Published: October 20, 2019, 11:00 a.m.

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Gov. Tom Wolf prepares to place a wreath honoring the Tree of Life synagogue victims in front of the execution wall at Auschwitz. He toured the complex on Saturday, Sept. 14.  (Amanda Berg/Office of Governor Tom Wolf)
Gov. Tom Wolf examines the Book of Names, which aims to collect the names of Holocaust victims. At the end are a few blank pages, meant to honor the people whose stories will never be known. The governor saw the book when he toured Auschwitz on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019.  (Amanda Berg/Office of Governor Tom Wolf)
Gov. Tom Wolf looks at brushes and other items left behind by the prisoners of Auschwitz-Birkenau, during a tour on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019.  (Amanda Berg/Office of Governor Tom Wolf)
An apple tree that continues to grow inside Auschwitz II-Birkenau, where other trees have died.  (Amanda Berg/Office of Governor Tom Wolf)
A wreath honoring the victims of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting is set before an execution wall in Auschwitz by Gov. Tom Wolf on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019.  (Amanda Berg/Office of Governor Tom Wolf)
Gov. Tom Wolf signs the names of the Tree of Life shooting victims in the guest book at Auschwitz. Sitting on the book is the mezuzah that hung above Rabbi Jeffrey Myers’ office inside the Tree of Life synagogue. The rabbi lent the mezuzah to the governor for his tour on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019.  (Amanda Berg/Office of Governor Tom Wolf)
Gov. Tom Wolf, pictured near the railroad tracks at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, an expansion of the original camp, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019.  (Amanda Berg/Office of Governor Tom Wolf)
Gov. Tom Wolf listens as tour guide and press officer Pawel Sawicki describes the many complicated lessons that can be learned at Auschwitz during a tour Sept. 14, 2019.  (Liz Navratil/Post-Gazette)
Gov. Tom Wolf listens as tour guide and press officer Pawel Sawicki describes the gas chambers at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, during a tour Sept. 14, 2019.  (Liz Navratil/Post-Gazette)
Gov. Tom Wolf listens as Pawel Sawicki, a tour guide and press officer, explains how the S.S. officers kept registration cards for the prisoners brought to Auschwitz.  (Liz Navratil/Post-Gazette)
Amanda Berg/Office of Governor Tom Wolf
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