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The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh is proud to present its new, original exhibit, For You Were Strangers: Jewish Immigration to Pittsburgh 1880-1990.

For You Were Strangers explores a 100-year history of Jewish immigration into Pittsburgh, and notes historic world events that drove distinctive waves of Jewish immigration to the region. Through documents, images and stories, the exhibit examines changing United States policies during the 19th and 20th centuries, along with the formation of local attitudes and institutions as Jewish immigrants and refugees came to become integral to our society today. Visitors will learn about the origins and presence of Jews throughout the region and in Pittsburgh neighborhoods from the Northside, Hill District, the East End and, finally, to Squirrel Hill.

Exhibit Supplements

Mapping Jews in Pittsburgh, 1865-1990

Click and zoom in to the map below to see the modern location of where synagogues in Pittsburgh were located. Note that some synagogues moved over time.

Color key:
Red- before 1880
Orange- 1880-1900
Yellow- 1900-1910
Green- 1910-1920
Blue- 1920-1940
Purple- After 1940

LINK: More about the synagogues of Pittsburgh (list courtesy of the Rauh Jewish Archive)

Supplemental Educational Resources

Ochberg’s Orphans

My Dear Children (please note this is not a free resource)

Americans and the Holocaust (USHMM)

America and the Holocaust (PBS) and suggested educator activities

Americans and the Holocaust: The Refugee Crisis (Facing History and Ourselves)

Historical Resources

Historic Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Jewish Newspapers Project

Pittsburgh Historic Maps

Jewish Genealogy Society of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh City Directories, 1815-1945

Books by Dr. Barbara Burstin, eminent historian of Pittsburgh Jewish History

Newspapers.com (account required)

Ancestry.com (account required)

Resources from the Rauh Jewish Archive

Rauh Jewish Archive Organizational Timeline

Selected Family Histories

Burial Records