Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fresno Suspect Caught After Jumping Out of Second-Floor Window, 2 Others Arrested

2 hours ago

Tesla Has Applied to Arizona for Robotaxi Service Certification, State Transport Department Says

2 hours ago

Evacuations Ongoing as San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Scorches Tens of Thousands of Acres

2 hours ago

US Senate to Vote on Trump Aid, Broadcasting Cuts as Deadline Looms

2 hours ago

US Health Department Widens Immigrant Benefit Restrictions

3 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Stabbing That Left Man Critically Injured

3 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Seek Next of Kin for North Fork Man

3 hours ago

Froot Loops Maker WK Kellogg Agrees to $3.1 Billion Deal From Italy’s Ferrero

4 hours ago

China Signals Willingness to Sell Fighter Jets as Iran Eyes J-10 Aircraft

4 hours ago

Tulare County Man Arrested in Ivanhoe Shooting, Second Suspect Still at Large

4 hours ago
Holocaust Survivor Faces Evil, Cheats Death for Second Time
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 7 years ago on
October 30, 2018

Share

PITTSBURGH — Sitting in the handicapped lane outside Tree of Life synagogue, Judah Samet watched as a plainclothes officer traded gunfire with the man at the temple door. He was caught in a crossfire and, yet, instead of ducking down, he craned his neck to get a glimpse of the gunman.

“I didn’t lose the faith in humanity. I know not to depend on humanity.”Judah Samet
“The guy was very focused,” he said, pointing his finger like the barrel of a gun and mimicking the staccato clacking of semiautomatic fire. “I saw the smoke coming out of his (muzzle).”
The 80-year-old Hungarian native had come face to face with evil once before, in a Nazi concentration camp. He had cheated death then, and on this Sabbath morning, he had a feeling that God was not finished with him just yet.
When the shooting stopped Saturday, 11 people lay dead inside the bunker-like concrete synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, the heart of the city’s Jewish community. In the days since, many have expressed shock that a place that seemed so safe for 150 years could become the scene of the worst attack on Jews in the nation’s history.
But Samet is surprised that something like this hadn’t happened sooner.
“I didn’t lose the faith in humanity,” he said. “I know not to depend on humanity.”

Samet Was Just 6 Years Old When the Nazis Came

Samet was just 6 years old in the spring of 1944 when the Nazis came to his house around the noontime meals and told them to pack. They were given 15 minutes to be outside “with our valuables and one change of underwear.”
Sitting in his sunny apartment in a jade-green building a few blocks from the synagogue, the retired jeweler recalled the long march to the trains.

“People were actually lying down and dying because they lost hope.” — Judah Samet
“What bothered me most is that there were Hungarians walking both sides, to and fro on the sidewalks,” he said, curling his mouth into a grimace and shaking his head. “Nobody paid attention. Nobody cared. They were as bad as the Nazis.”
At one point, he watched in horror as a Gestapo sergeant put a pistol to his mother’s head — for daring to ask for better treatment for the weary travelers. She was spared only because she spoke fluent German, and the commander wanted to use her as an interpreter.
They were supposed to be going to Auschwitz, but partisans had destroyed the rail lines. After several months of wandering, they arrived at Bergen-Belsen, the northern German camp where Anne Frank was an inmate.
“First thing we saw at the gate, there were about almost two stories of corpses, lying on top of each other,” he said. “They’d clear them away. Next day, again, they have the same.”
Weakened by starvation, the population was ravaged by disease.
“People were actually lying down and dying,” he said, “because they lost hope.”
Samet did not lie down.

A Member of the Tree of Life Synagogue for 54 Years

His father died of typhus two days after the camp’s liberation. But by some miracle, the rest of his family survived.
After the war, Samet went to Israel, where he served as a paratrooper. He later relocated to Pittsburgh.
He has been a member of the Tree of Life synagogue for 54 years.
Samet tries to go to “shul” — a synagogue — every day, and prides himself on his punctuality. But on Saturday, he was running late.
“My housekeeper kept me for four minutes,” he said.
He began pulling into the lot when somebody knocked on his window. In a gentle, hushed voice, the man said: “You can’t go in the synagogue. There’s a shooting going on.”
Samet tried to back out, but there were too many other cars trying to do the same. Suddenly, out the passenger window, he saw what he later realized was a detective.
“He was shooting at the fellow,” he said. “And the fellow was shooting back with a rapid fire. Da-da-da-da. Da-da-da-da.”

Photo of police officer outside of the Tree of Life Synagogue
A Pittsburgh Police officer walks past the Tree of Life Synagogue and a memorial of flowers and stars in Pittsburgh on Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018, in remembrance of those killed and injured when a shooter opened fire during services Saturday at the synagogue. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Samet Able to Identify Robert Bowers

Samet would later be able to identify Robert Bowers to the FBI, so close was he to the action.
Following his surrender, the wounded Bowers reportedly told officers he wanted to “kill all the Jews.” In online posts, Bowers hurled Jewish slurs and raged at synagogues like Tree of Life for supporting refugees, calling them “hostile invaders.”

“I was shocked. But I also thought, ‘Why not here?’ It’s happening everywhere. Why wouldn’t it happen here?'” — Lauren Bairnsfather, director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh
“I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered,” Bowers allegedly posted online shortly before entering the synagogue. “Screw your optics, I’m going in.”
Like many, Lauren Bairnsfather thought Pittsburgh was immune from such violence. She’s the director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, located in Squirrel Hill.
“I was shocked. But I also thought, ‘Why not here?’ It’s happening everywhere. Why wouldn’t it happen here?'”
Bairnsfather said the center’s mission is to show the relevance of the Holocaust today. Saturday’s massacre was a “stark, concrete example” of how important that work is.
“It’s not just Jewish history,” she said. “It’s human history. And it’s still happening obviously. It happened here.”

Brown Believes That Anti-Semitism Never Dies

Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor Magda Brown, of Skokie, Illinois, was scheduled to speak at the Pittsburgh center Monday. As she watched news of the tragedy unfold, she turned to her daughter and said she wouldn’t dream of canceling.
“Now they need to hear our story even more,” she said. “Let’s go.”
Brown’s speech to a large group of high school students also included a live webcast.
On Brown’s 17th birthday, she and her family were loaded on cattle cars and shipped to the dreaded camp, located in present-day Poland. Of an extended family of 70, only eight survived.
The Hungarian woman, now a sprightly 91, believes that anti-Semitism never dies, it just goes “dormant,” until a leader like Hitler comes along to reawaken it. But unlike Samet, she is counting on humanity.
And that is why she shares her story.
“I still believe there are more good people than bad,” she said. “So I’m hoping that the good people are listening.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Man Sentenced to 13 Years in Fiery DUI Crash That Killed One, Injured Several

DON'T MISS

‘Hollywood-Level Scares’ at Immersive Horror Attraction Coming to Fresno This Halloween

DON'T MISS

Hiker Rescued by Helicopter After Injury on Pacific Crest Trail in Kern County

DON'T MISS

US Military Delivering Some Weapons to Ukraine After Pause

DON'T MISS

Qantas Confirms Personal Data of Over a Million Customers Leaked in Breach

DON'T MISS

US Sanctions UN Expert Critical of Israel’s War in Gaza

DON'T MISS

Madera County Structure Fire Spreads to Vegetation in Coarsegold Area, Evacuations Ordered

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Guadalupe Gilberto Moreno

DON'T MISS

Blackstone Businesses Demand Fresno Homeless Orgs Stop Drop-Offs on Private Property

DON'T MISS

Madera Driver ‘Extremely Intoxicated’ in Crash, Arrested for DUI

UP NEXT

US Emergency Agency FEMA Should Be ‘Eliminated as It Exists Today,’ Noem Says

UP NEXT

Death Toll Reaches at Least 119 in Texas Floods, With 173 Missing

UP NEXT

Rescue Teams Find Three More Bodies After Central Texas Floods

UP NEXT

TSA Set to Let Airport Travelers Keep Their Shoes on, Media Reports Say

UP NEXT

Space Industry Urges Congress Not to Axe System That Prevents Satellite Collisions

UP NEXT

Rescuers Scour Flood Debris in Texas as Hope Fades for Survivors

UP NEXT

US Veterans Affairs Will Cut Nearly 30,000 Jobs, Far Fewer Than Planned

UP NEXT

US Proposes Rules That Could Boost Oil, Gas Output in US West

UP NEXT

Man Dead After Firing at US Border Patrol Station in Texas

UP NEXT

Texas Girls’ Camp Mourning Dozens Dead in Floods as Search Teams Face More Rain

State Department Says Reorganization Plan Moving to Implementation

1 hour ago

Fresno Suspect Caught After Jumping Out of Second-Floor Window, 2 Others Arrested

2 hours ago

Tesla Has Applied to Arizona for Robotaxi Service Certification, State Transport Department Says

2 hours ago

Evacuations Ongoing as San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Scorches Tens of Thousands of Acres

2 hours ago

US Senate to Vote on Trump Aid, Broadcasting Cuts as Deadline Looms

2 hours ago

Kyiv Received Political Signals for US Aid Resumption, Zelenskiy Says

3 hours ago

US Health Department Widens Immigrant Benefit Restrictions

3 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Stabbing That Left Man Critically Injured

3 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Seek Next of Kin for North Fork Man

3 hours ago

Bitcoin Hits Fresh Record High

3 hours ago

Oil Falls Amid Bearish Trump Tariff Outlook

HOUSTON – Oil prices fell more than 2% on Thursday, as investors weighed the potential impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff...

5 minutes ago

The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. (REUTERS/Angus Mordant/File Photo)
5 minutes ago

Oil Falls Amid Bearish Trump Tariff Outlook

A medical worker pushing a bed through the corridors of Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital in Hollister on March 30, 2023. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
34 minutes ago

Higher Premiums and Lost Coverage: How Trump’s Budget Will Change Health Care in California

A wind-driven fire north of Reedley destroyed a mobile home, RV, and two outbuildings before crews contained it at 20 acres Wednesday, July 9, 2025, afternoon, CalFire Fresno County said. (CalFire)
49 minutes ago

Fresno County Fire Destroys Structures, Contained at 20 Acres

The seal of the United States Department of State is seen in Washington, U.S., January 26, 2017. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

State Department Says Reorganization Plan Moving to Implementation

Three people were arrested and multiple weapons were seized after a standoff at a Northeast Fresno apartment on Tuesday, July 8 2025, police said. (Fresno PD)
2 hours ago

Fresno Suspect Caught After Jumping Out of Second-Floor Window, 2 Others Arrested

A Tesla logo is pictured on a car in the rain in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., May 5, 2021. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Tesla Has Applied to Arizona for Robotaxi Service Certification, State Transport Department Says

The Madre Fire near New Cuyama has burned over 80,000 acres, injured one firefighter, and prompted evacuation orders and warnings across multiple zones. (CalFire)
2 hours ago

Evacuations Ongoing as San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Scorches Tens of Thousands of Acres

A general view shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

US Senate to Vote on Trump Aid, Broadcasting Cuts as Deadline Looms

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend