Pittsburgh synagogue shooting memorial plaque stolen from Allderdice High School
By Mike Darnay, Lauren Linder
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A memorial plaque honoring the 11 victims of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting has been stolen from outside Taylor Allderdice High School in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood.
A Pittsburgh Public Schools spokesperson says the plaque was recently discovered missing, but it’s unclear when it was removed from school property.
As Alan Mallinger looked at the Tree of Life memorial on the Allderdice campus, it hurt him to see what was no longer there.
“It’s just disrespectful to the community, and certainly, to the 11 victims that day,” Mallinger said. “The first thing that comes into my mind is, you know, why? Why would somebody do something like that?”
The plaque listed his mom’s name, Rose, with those of the 10 other victims of the horrific shooting on Oct. 27, 2018.
Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil and David Rosenthal, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, Dan Stein, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger were all killed during the attack.
The memorial was donated by the boys’ basketball team that school year. The team also planted 11 trees on the grounds in memory of those killed.
The shooting at the synagogue remains the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history.
“I think it was nice for the community to see the kids getting behind, you know what happened at the Tree of Life,” Mallinger said.
A spokesperson for Pittsburgh Public Schools said they don’t know when the incident happened and that “a review of security footage did not provide any leads or identify potential suspects.”
School police are investigating with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
David Heyman with the agency said they’re disheartened.
“We see what happened here in context with a rise in anti-semitic activity over the last year,” Heyman said.
Tensions are high amid the conflict in the Middle East, but Heyman said they don’t want to speculate on a motive at this time.
“It could be just vandalism, or it could be somebody who had a specific motive,” Heyman said.
In the meantime, the district spokesperson said they’ve ordered a replacement plaque to be installed in time for the upcoming commemoration. Mallinger thinks that’s wonderful, but hopes those who stole the original, have a change of heart.
“I hope that you know, that this person, or people, whoever did this, you know, would return the plaque,” Mallinger said. “Let’s hope that, you know, nothing like this happens in the future.”
If you have any information about what happened, you can contact the school district or the federation.
“We remain committed to honoring the victims’ memory and the importance of this memorial in our community,” the district said.
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