📍 Location: Boulder, Colorado
In a heart-wrenching incident that has shaken the Boulder community and beyond, 88-year-old Holocaust survivor Barbara Steinmetz was among those injured during a brutal attack on peaceful demonstrators. The group had gathered on Sunday to advocate for the return of Israeli hostages when they were targeted by a man wielding a makeshift flamethrower.
Barbara, who survived the horrors of the Holocaust as a child in Hungary, had joined the march as part of the organization “Run for Their Lives.” What was meant to be a peaceful awareness event turned violent when the suspect, identified as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, allegedly attacked the group with Molotov cocktails and flames.
In her first public statement since the assault, Barbara delivered a powerful message:
> “We’re Americans. We are better than this. That’s what I want people to know. That they be kind and decent human beings.”
She emphasized that the attack was not about religion or history but about the loss of basic human decency.
The incident, which left a dozen injured, has sparked national outrage. It occurred just 11 days after the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy workers in Washington, D.C., in another politically charged assault.
Rabbi Marc Soloway of Congregation Bonai Shalom, where Barbara is a member, expressed concern over the emotional toll this will take on a woman who already endured one of the darkest chapters in human history.
> “Can you imagine the trauma this reactivates?” he asked.
Despite minor physical burns, Barbara is expected to recover. But her message resonates far beyond the boundaries of Boulder: a plea for kindness, civility, and unity in a country increasingly divided by hatred and violence.
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