Jewish immigration into Pittsburgh dates back at least a century, but not everyone realizes that.

“It was before and after (11 people were killed) at the Tree of Life we realized that there’s a misconception about when Jews came to this country,” said Lauren Bairnsfather, director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill. “The week before Oct. 27, we had a police training, and one of the cadets asked me, ‘Did all the Jews here come after World War II?’ And I thought, ‘oh my goodness, we really have a problem.’”

There is a long story of the Jewish presence in Pittsburgh well before the Holocaust. Telling that story has become the motivation for a new exhibit at the Holocaust Center called “For You Were Strangers: Jewish Immigration to Pittsburgh, 1880-1990.”

The exhibit opens with a launch event at the Holocaust Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review A new exhibit that dives into the history of Jewish immigration in Pittsburgh is seen at the the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020.  

On display until May 31, the exhibit explores the more than 100-year history of Jewish immigration into Pittsburgh. Through documents and images, it highlights historic world events that drove distinctive waves of Jewish immigration to the region.

“It goes back to the German Jewish immigrants of the 1800s, so that’s the earliest wave in Pittsburgh. They established synagogues that are still here and are very well known, like Rodef Shalom, which was the first (1850s), and Tree of Life not long after (1860s),” Bairnsfather said.

“After that, the largest wave came from Russia following the pogroms. That’s the group of Jews who lived in the Hill District, where about 90% of Jewish immigrants in Pittsburgh lived at one point.”

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review A new exhibit that dives into the history of Jewish immigration in Pittsburgh is seen at the the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh on Friday, Feb. 7, 2020.  

The exhibit looks at changing U.S. policies during the 19th and 20th centuries and examines local attitudes and institutions as Jewish immigrants and refugees became an integral part of Pittsburgh’s culture.

“Once the Jewish immigrants were established, then they were involved with all kinds of development of different programs and organizations within the city. Also, in industry, a lot of Jews owned shops that were very well known and some still exist,” Bairnsfather said. “Jews really contributed in meaningful ways to the fabric of the city and that’s something that we want people to see from this exhibit.”

The research for the “For You Were Strangers” exhibit, including the way it was designed and came together, was done by Jackie Reese, Holocaust Center marketing and education associate. It highlights stories of local organizations and people who welcomed Jewish immigrants and refugees to Pittsburgh, and those who fought for Jews trapped in Nazi Germany to be admitted to the United States.

It includes a display panel that tracks immigration policy in America and moments when U.S. immigration policy is designed to stop a certain group from coming in.

“It tells a timely and important story about how we think about refugees. How we think about people coming here,” Bairnsfather said. “Responses that even people within the Jewish community were having in the early 1900s were not unlike responses that people have now about bringing refugees into this country.”

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