October 27 Response

(Above) Since October 27, 2018, the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center has collected thousands of objects documenting local and global responses to the attack. Image by Carly Lough, courtesy of Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center.

On Saturday, October 27, 2018, a gunman entered the Tree of Life building in Squirrel Hill, killing eleven worshippers from three congregations and wounding six others, including four police officers. It has been described as the deadliest antisemitic incident in American history—a devastating event with local, national, and global reverberations.

Documentation of those reverberations is also vast. People all over the world have created flyers and programs, speeches and sermons, signs and posters, emails, texts, voicemails, photographs, websites, objects and stories. Some day, this documentation will be all that remains to describe the impact of the attack on people all over the world.

In the years since the attack, the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center has been actively working with the three impacted congregations, with community partners, with victims groups, with impacted individuals, and with other stakeholders to collect and preserve as much as of this documentation as possible. To date, the Archive has saved thousands of items and has helped others in the community preserve thousands more. This initiative will continue for as long as the flow of documentation continues, which will certainly last for years and could persist for decades or perhaps even for centuries.

The ultimate goal of this effort is to create a body of materials for future generations, while also finding ways to share appropriate portions of the collection with people today.

Help us by contributing your digital content:

The Rauh Jewish Archive at the Heinz History Center is collecting digital images, audio and video recordings, social media posts, typed recollections, and other digital content relating to the October 27 attack, as well as memorials, rallies and community gatherings around the world. You can help us by sharing your documentation of these events.

To submit a file or URL location, please use our Collection Form. For assistance, please contact RJArchives@heinzhistorycenter.org or call 412-454-6406.

Before submitting, please review these Guidelines and Terms.

Help us by contributing physical items:

In addition to digital materials, many people have collected or created physical items such as programs, signs, transcripts of speeches and remarks, commemorative objects, flags, and other ephemera relating to the October 27 attack, as well as memorials, rallies and community gatherings around the world. To contribute physical objects to the collection, please contact Eric Lidji, Director of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center at RJArchives@heinzhistorycenter.org or call 412-454-6406.

Please choose the type of content you would like to submit:

1 – Photos, Video, Audio

    Upload File:

    Please name your file to reflect its content.
    Limit: 25MB If your file is larger than 25MB, please upload it to a file-sharing platform such as Google Drive or Dropbox and link to it in the description field.

    Title (required):

    Provide a title for your image, audio or video file. Ex.: “Memorial at Shady and Wilkins Avenue.”

    Description:

    Provide as much description as you can about the experience documented in your file(s), including where your documentation was made, who was present or who is depicted, or any other relevant details.

    Date:

    When did this experience take place?

    Location:

    Where did this experience take place? Please consider including a building, street or neighborhood name, city, state/province, and country.

    Your name (required):

    Email address (required):

    You may be contacted by History Center staff.

    I wish to remain anonymous.

    By submitting my content, I understand that the History Center does not guarantee full anonymity and may contact me confidentially.

    I have read and agree to the terms.

    Read: Guidelines and Terms.

    2 – Links

      URL (required):

      Description:

      Provide as much description as you can about the above URL, including its relevance to the tragedy or relevant names, dates and locations.

      Your name (required):

      Email address (required):

      You may be contacted by History Center staff.

      I wish to remain anonymous.

      By submitting my content, I understand that the History Center does not guarantee full anonymity and may contact me confidentially.

      I have read and agree to the terms.

      Read: Guidelines and Terms.

      3 – Social Media

        URL (required):

        Description:

        Provide as much description as you can about the above URL, including its relevance to the tragedy or relevant names, dates and locations.

        Date:

        Please record the date of the social media post.

        Your name (required):

        Email address (required):

        You may be contacted by History Center staff.

        I wish to remain anonymous.

        By submitting my content, I understand that the History Center does not guarantee full anonymity and may contact me confidentially.

        I have read and agree to the terms.

        Read: Guidelines and Terms.

        4 – Tell Your Story

          Title:

          Tell Your Story:

          Please tell your story in as much detail as possible.

          Upload File:

          Please name your file to reflect its content.
          Limit: 25MB If your file is larger than 25MB, please upload it to a file-sharing platform such as Google Drive or Dropbox and link to it in the "Tell Your Story" field.

          Date:

          When did this experience take place?

          Location:

          Where did this experience take place? Please consider including a building, street or neighborhood name, city, state/province, and country.

          Your name (required):

          Email address (required):

          You may be contacted by History Center staff.

          I wish to remain anonymous.

          By submitting my content, I understand that the History Center does not guarantee full anonymity and may contact me confidentially.

          I have read and agree to the terms.

          Read: Guidelines and Terms.

          Contribution Guidelines and Terms

          The Rauh Jewish Archives of the Heinz History Center is collecting materials relating to the attack at the Tree of Life building on Oct. 27, 2018 and its global response. Please read the following guidelines before submitting your content:

          • All accepted items will be made available for public research by the Detre Library & Archives at the Heinz History Center.
          • By submitting content through this form, you are granting the History Center non-exclusive (shared), royalty-free license to preserve, modify, and share your content for public research, educational use, exhibits, or publication, including in print or online.
          • The Heinz History Center reserves the right to remove content that it considers duplicative, inappropriate, or outside the scope of the project. The History Center is not obligated to include your content in this project or preserve it in perpetuity.
          • Please only submit photographic, audio, or video material which you own or have created. If you would like to refer or nominate material which you do not own, please contact us at RJArchives@heinzhistorycenter.org.
          • You must be 18 years of age or older to submit content.

          Help us by making a monetary donation: 

          You can help the Rauh Jewish Archives by making a donation that will directly support the effort to preserving documentation of the October 27 attack and its aftermath.

          Make a donation