Holocaust Center opens ‘Revolving Doors’ exhibit at Chatham Worthington man removes Nazi imagery from Beaver billboard, remains defiant

hen visitors first enter the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh’s Gallery at Chatham University, they are confronted by a large Torah scroll under glass. That is purposeful, according to Lauren Bairnsfather, the Holocaust Center’s executive director.

“Rabbi Jeffrey Myers [rabbi of Tree of Life

Congregation] said that Judaism has survived for thousands of years because it is portable,” Bairnsfather said. “That book tells us what we need to know. You can roll it up and take it with you. This survived antisemitic attacks. It survived migration. It gives me hope.”

It is also an apt physical metaphor for the Holocaust Center’s newest exhibit — the first in

By David Rullo | Sta Writer

Last weekend, John Placek removed a slide of a swastika from a digital billboard he owns located on the corner of Route 422 and Bonniebrook Road in Summit Township. The swastika had been placed next to the words “FBI CORRUPT & DANGEROUS THE GESTAPO.”

The Worthington businessman said that he heard from a friend that a local Holocaust survivor found the imagery upsetting.

“My intent was not to offend anybody or create grief and hardship for people or bad memories,” Placek said. “So, what I did was — out of respect for her — I removed it.”

Placek’s decision to remove the swastika concerned only this particular billboard at this particular time, he told the Chronicle. When asked if he would commit to no longer using Nazi imagery on his billboards, Placek replied: “I’m not saying that.”

The billboard owner said that he would do whatever was necessary to get “the word of