New podcast shares voices of those impacted in Tree of Life shooting

It has been nearly seven years since a gunman entered a Pittsburgh synagogue and killed 11 Jewish worshippers during a Shabbat service. Now, Jewish oral historians Aliza Becker and Noah Schoen are making sure no one forgets the stories of those impacted by the attack.

On Sunday, Becker and Schoen will release the first six episodes of the “October 27th Podcast,” featuring local Western Pennsylvania voices reflecting on the Oct. 27, 2018 attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill.

The audio — collected from over 100 interviews — was sourced from 2019 to 2021 and adapted from the Meanings of October 27th oral history project, co-created Becker and Schoen.

“We also are sharing stories of Jews who share with a lot of vulnerability about how the synagogue shooting affected them,” said Schoen, who grew up in Squirrel Hill. “These stories are an incredibly generous offering to anyone who wants to understand more about this issue.”

When deciding how to release the stories into the community, Schoen and Becker knew they wanted to include a survivor and someone who lost a loved one, they told TribLive on Friday.

The first six episodes will include the accounts of Jewish community members, including Audrey Glickman, a survivor of the shooting, and Alan Mallinger, whose mother, Rose Mallinger, was killed and whose sister, Andrea Wedner, was shot and wounded.

The podcast will also include the voices of non-Jewish political activist Tracy Baton, as well as New Bethlehem High School student Clara Gourley.

“One of my biggest learnings from this project was that a lot of non-Jews really care about their Jewish neighbors, but that doesn’t mean that they always know how to be in solidarity with them against antisemitism,” Schoen said.

Becker, who lives in Chicago, believes the podcast is a way to share Pittsburgh’s history beyond the city. She feels the stories shared in the series are even more important because of today’s political climate.

“I think this idea of responding to a horrible thing, but … by building community, is very relevant today. And I think certainly antisemitism and racism have become more relevant,” she said.

The unedited recordings of the podcast episodes are archived at the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, and in December, they plan to release six more episodes.

“The Meanings of October 27th oral history project is a tremendous repository of community stories and voices and will help current and future generations make sense of this moment in time. We’re grateful for the opportunity to preserve this record,” said Eric Lidji, director of the Rauh Jewish Archives, in a news release.

Becker and Schoen are currently fundraising to create more episodes next year.

“These people just talk from the heart… Part of what oral history does is it really gives people permission to further their minds and to see where they go,” Becker said.

“I highly recommend listening to them. I think you’ll cry, you’ll laugh and you’ll feel transformed.”