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One year after Prairie Village native Sarah Milgrim and her boyfriend, who were Israeli Embassy staffers, were killed in Washington, D.C., her family is still searching for peace and for answers.
"You realize there's no reason for this. The more I think about it, the less I understand the reason," her father, Bob Milgrim, said.
Sarah and her intended fiancé, Yaron Lischinsky, were shot and killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum on May 21, 2025. The man who shot and killed the couple told police he did it for Palestine.
Bob Milgrim said the pain has not faded with time.
"Naively, I thought a year ago that it might get easier, but it's gotten much harder," he said.
He said the initial shock has given way to a sharper grief.
"All the numbness of the first several weeks has worn away. So, now it seems much more real," Bob Milgrim said.
Antisemitism, he claimed, now carries a weight it did not before.
"Antisemitism to me now seems much more real than before Sarah's death," Bob Milgrim said. "Once you lose a child to it, it's a whole other dimension that can't be described."
He said he struggles to make sense of the hatred behind her killing.
"I don't know what we're guilty of — Sarah surely wasn't guilty of anything," Bob Milgrim said.
He shared that he and his family have leaned on memory and faith to carry them through the year.
"We feel like we need to talk about Sarah," he said.
He said the family has observed the Jewish tradition of Kaddish — a daily prayer said in honor of a loved one who has passed — every day since her death.
He said that observance was set to conclude Thursday, but that he does not plan to stop.
"I don't see that stopping because it gives us comfort to say the prayer every day," Bob Milgrim said.
The family said they are also still learning about the full scope of Sarah's life and the impact she had on others.
"We only knew a small amount of what she did. She told us the surface of things, of many things, but there are a lot of things that she didn't even tell us. They were all very positive things," Bob Milgrim said. "Surprisingly, even until this day, we are still learning about things that Sarah did."
One of Sarah's friends, who had previously spoken about her, said the grief remains too fresh to revisit.
The family is working to keep Sarah's name and legacy alive.
"We're trying to keep her name alive and present," Bob Milgrim said. "We are doing everything we can to keep her, to honor her and keep her memory alive."
Three scholarships have been established in Sarah's honor.
The Jewish Community Relations Bureau announced the creation of the Sarah Milgrim Justice in Action Scholarship — a tribute to her life, legacy and commitment to justice.
At the University of Kansas, they are establishing the Sarah Milgrim Memorial Scholarship to Advance Environmental Peacebuilding & Sustainability.
American University's School of International Service, where Sarah earned her master's degree in 2023, is establishing the Sarah Milgrim Memorial Fund for Graduate Student Support.
A book and a play have also been written about Sarah.
Bob Milgrim said he is holding onto hope that the coming days will bring some measure of relief.
"I hope I'll feel better in a couple of days," he said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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