'I'm afraid to stay home': the story of a man who survived a terrorist attack in a synagogue

Barry Werber usually comes to services on Friday night and Sunday morning, but this week was the anniversary of his mother’s death. The Jewish tradition is that you pray the whole weekend, said Werber.

Photo: USA Today video screenshot

Werber came to the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh early Saturday morning. He and some others who were already in the lower shrine read their prayer books when they heard the roar. Werber went to the stairs.

“I opened the door and saw a body on the steps leading down to our room,” the 76-year-old said. "I have to assume it was Cecil."

Cecil Rosenthal and another 10 man in the synagogue were shot on Saturday, when the shooter shouted, "All Jews must die."

When Werber saw the body, he realized that it was shots. The rabbi transferred his congregation from the sanctuary to a small dark pantry, where Werber and the others remained until the arrival of 911.

When the shots at the top subsided, one of the parishioners approached the door, despite the fact that they tried to warn him not to open it. A shot occurred again and the worshiper fell into the storeroom, Werber said.

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Then pause and darkness. Werber said the door opened. A man with a long shotgun stepped over the body of Wax's worshiper. The shooter did not see Werber and Black in the other side of the room, and the door closed again.

Verbera had a telephone, but fortunately he did not catch fire, even when the 911 operator was on the line while the shooter was in the room.

“In the meantime, I pray a lot that it’s over,” Werber said. “I felt that she [mother- ed. ForumDaily] and God protected me,” Werber said. “But I was more scared than ever.”

Soon after them came the special forces officer. He helped Werber and another parishioner out of the building, handing them over to another officer. Together they got into the patrol car.

Werber glad there were no more people in the service. If there were more in the lower church, they would not be able to hide in the pantry.

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But the man fears the Tree of Life tragedy will become another on the list of mass shootings in the United States.

After all that has happened, Werber does not feel safe, even in his own home. He is also not sure that he will feel safe in the building of the synagogue and its sanctuary when it reopens.

Shooting was purposeful and showed a level of anti-Semitism, which, as Werber said, he never expected to see in the United States.

His cousins ​​survived in concentration camps. His parents fled Europe because of Nazism. But, today, he is not sure that the Jewish people could really avoid it.

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