Bairnsfather

Lauren Bairnsfather, director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, said America has been such “a place of assimilation and opportunity” for Jews that many were blindsided by the massacre.

“People didn’t understand how this was possible to happen in the United States because there’s this illusion of total safety,” said Bairnsfather, whose center hopes to share space with Tree of Life in a renovated synagogue as a statement against antisemitism.

Bairnsfather said the center's mission is to show the relevance of the Holocaust today.

Bairnsfather said the center’s mission is to show the relevance of the Holocaust today.

Like many, Lauren Bairnsfather thought Pittsburgh was immune from such violence.