(NBC) -- Less than a week after a gunman opened fire on worshipers inside a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin family, friends and a community paid their respects to the six people gunned down.

Hundreds filed past pictures of the dead as Friday's memorial began.

"We are united today - not only by a shared sense of loss, but also by a common belief in the healing power of faith," US Attorney General Eric Holder told the gathering.

The huge turnout was a sign of unity in the shattered community, where residentsa are dealing with their loss and the mounting evidence that the shooting rampage was fueled by hate.

40-year-old, Army veteran Michael Page carried out the massacre, and took his own life after being shot and wounded by police.