For Jewish community in St. John's, Pittsburgh massacre feels like 'prelude' to the Holocaust

Dozens lit candles in aSt. John's park Monday evening, paying tribute to the 11 victims killed in Saturday's massacre in Pittsburgh.

The Stronger Than Hate vigil, planned by members of the Jewish student groupHillel, was an effort to show determination in the face of violence, organizer Justin Tobin said.

Tobinsaid that even from 3000 kilometres away,he felt compelled to act, fearing complacency would send the wrong message.

"These types of things are not okay. They're not okay in Pittsburgh, they're not okay in Israel, they're not okay in New York. And they're not okay in St. John's, Newfoundland."

A gunman killed eight men and three women inside the Tree of Life Synagogue on Saturday during worship services before a tactical police team tracked him down and shot him.

Tobinsaid he felt cold and shocked upon hearing the news of the massacre on Saturday."This could've been me. I go to synagogue and pray," he said.

"It made me feel like I had to help, I had to do something. That the names of the 11 people that were murdered had to be remembered."

Volunteers read the names of victims out loud, lighting acandleand holding a moment of silence for each person killed.

Organizers refused to speak the name of the alleged killer.

A 'perfect storm' for violence

For ElenaRosen Hannah, Saturday's events echoedthe horrors of the Holocaust, feeling in wayslike the"prelude" to Nazi Germany.

"It's devastating. Most of my family died in the Holocaust," Rosen Hannah said."It immediately resonates. It's like dj vu."

The news came as a shock to Rosen Hannah, who spends half the year in the United States, surrounded by large Jewish communities. "You feel safe there as a Jew," she said.

Rosen Hannah said she sensed a rise in anti-Semitismin recent years, and pointed to burgeoning political extremism as the culprit.

"It's giving permission to these alt-right people, with very extreme ways of thinking,"she said."It's a perfect storm: the fear of immigrants and the 'other.'

"Jewshave been scapegoats forever, so as soon as there areany problems, financial or anything, attacks on Jews always increase."

Members of the Jewish community in Pittsburgh have blamed the political climate for encouraging anti-Semitism. Somehave said the U.S. president isn't welcome in the city until he denounceswhite nationalism.

In St. John's, mourners formed tight circles, chatting softly about the tragedy.

"I'm hoping for a sense of community, for understanding,"Tobinsaid."I'm hoping that the little Jewish kids seeing this on TV...that they go home feeling safe, that they know people care about them, and that they sleep easier at night.

"Because I know they could not on Saturday."