When a 46-year-old white man called Robert Bowers walked into the Tree of Life synagogue in the city of Pittsburgh, in the US, last Saturday, he was driven by a singular obsession – his racial hatred of Jewish people.
After killing 11 worshippers and wounding six others on this Jewish holy day of Shabbat, Bowers was heavily injured in the confrontation with police. Even as he was wheeled into the emergency room at a nearby hospital, Bowers, still boiling with rage, made sure those around him understood his mission: “I wanted to kill all Jews.” Then, the unbelievable happened.
“I am Dr Cohen,” one of the three Jewish doctors tells the bleeding patient. Dr Cohen was a member of the synagogue where the murders just took place. The greatest irony of all, the very people Bowers wanted to exterminate were the physicians working to save his life and care for his wellbeing.