Memorials outside Tree of Life synagogue being moved for preservation

PITTSBURGH — The makeshift memorials outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill will be moved Wednesday.

Items left to honor the 11 lives lost in the Oct. 27 shooting at the synagogue will be moved by Tree of Life, along with congregants from Dor Hadash and New Light.

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The three Jewish congregations will work with experts in the field of memorialization and archival preservation to take apart the memorials and preserve them.

A professional photographer carefully documented the memorials along Wilkins Avenue.

Some of the flowers will be dried and/or pressed. The rest will be composted.

Items like candles, stones, pictures and wooden Stars of David will be relocated, soon to be used to construct a similar memorial.

STORY: What we know about victims killed at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh

Officials said the plan is to temporarily locate the memorial inside the glass doors of the Tree of Life’s main sanctuary lobby, allowing the public to walk up to the entrance and view it. No one will be permitted to enter the building.

Items collected from the memorials will eventually be cataloged and preserved in the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives at the Senator John Heinz History Center.

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