I Survived The Holocaust – Pittsburgh Brought Old Fears Rushing Back

The Fellowship | November 12, 2018

Two rows of candles serving as a memorial for those in the Holocaust. — I Survived The Holocaust — And Pittsburgh Brought The Old Fears Rushing Back

Johanna Reiss, a Holocaust survivor and author of The Upstairs Room, writes about how the recent Pittsburgh shooting left her broken, and how we must never forget.

I let 70 years pass before I started going to the synagogue after the Holocaust, and after Pittsburgh, now I was worried it wasn’t safe anymore.

The night of the 25th, a vigil took place close to where I live. I ought to go, I told myself, be part of mourning with others who probably also feel the same shock and pain…

Still I thought I ought to join the mourners. I put on a coat, hat, scarf, got my key and walked to the door…

“Don’t do harm to children,” I want to yell to the world; it leaves scars that never go away.