POWAY, Calif. — Monday marked the beginning of Poway Unified School District's No Place for Hate week. The week of events, aimed at educating people on acceptance, begins as the community grapples with the Poway synagogue shooting that killed one woman and left three others injured.
As the city mourns, Poway High School student Talia Schauder, 17, is sharing her grandfather's story of surviving the Holocaust in hopes of building a more tolerant community.
"He was seven years old when the war began," she said. "He was robbed of his childhood."
Paul Schauder was born to a Jewish family in Worms, Germany in 1931. He went into hiding by the age of seven.Fearing Nazi persecution, he remained in hiding until he was liberated by American soldiers.
Talia had strong words denouncing Saturday's hate filled attack. She said the community has to stand up to hate.
"We can't be pushed down and afraid because if we stop going to services, we stop following our beliefs. We're letting hate win," Talia said.
She said people are realizing that anti-Semitism is happening in Poway and not just in other parts of the world.
"We are all so fortunate that we were able to grow up in a somewhat normal society even though there still is anti-Semitism," Talia said. "There still is hate towards people's differences and that's what we need to work to change."
Talia hopes to continue using her voice to unite people as her community heals from tragedy.
"There's going to be hate that's spread everywhere for no reason," she said. "When we can learn from our past and we can create the better tomorrow. But we must work for it."
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