CIS and Baltic States 2004

 

The inability of the authorities in the respective states to enforce laws or carry out promises, the economic deterioration in the region that has led to the search for scapegoats, and an increasing number of politicians and officials who see antisemitism as a tool to advance their political aspirations all constitute a threat to the security of the Jewish communities in the CIS and Baltic States. Antisemitism and racism are expressed by individuals, groups and governments, both directly and indirectly,in insults, graffiti and caricatures; published material (such as books, newspaper articles and pamphlets); desecration of cemeteries, Holocaust memorials, synagogues and community centers; and at the official level, in political and economic restrictions and denial of basic human rights, as well as in arrests, imprisonment, beatings, and murders.

All the governments of the former Soviet Union are implicated in antisemitism as much for their silence or lack of action as for their declarations or the measures they take. Although they (including presidents) condemn antisemitism and racism in general terms, they rarely speak out against particular incidents or statements made by politicians; the perpetrators are seldom caught, and even when they are tried, they escape with minor sentences, if they are punished at all. Although, there exist laws that formally protect the rights of ethnic minorities and religious groups in each country, and racism and hate speech are considered criminal offenses, there is little or no enforcement.

 

Russian Federation

The Russian Federation (capital: Moscow) is made up of 21 autonomous republics. It has a three-branch system of government. The executive branch is headed by President Vladimir Putin (since March 2000). The legislative branch comprises a bicameral federal assembly, consisting of the State Duma (450 deputies elected throughout the country, one half by a system of proportional representation and the other half by plurality in single member districts) and the Federal Council (176 members, elected from Russia's 89 territorial units). Vladimir Putin’s second term in office (from March 2004) has been marked by several political reforms, the main objectives being to eliminate the smaller parties, leaving two or three major parties; to strengthen the influence and control of the federal center in the regions in all fields down to the municipal level; and to determine territorial boundaries between regions.

In 2004 the alarming increase in violent crime, motivated by ethnic and religious hatred, continued, affecting both the Jewish population and other national minorities in Russia (see General Analysis). Mass brawls, beatings, murder and desecration became routine occurrences. The local banking crisis which hit Russia in spring/summer 2004 prompted xenophobic and antisemitic responses from those who suffered financial losses, as well as from politicians who sought to make political capital. The end of 2004 saw a rise in social tensions caused by reforms, including the introduction of cash payments ranging from 25 to 120 dollars in place of benefits such as free electricity and free use of public transport for the sick, pensioners, war veterans, etc. There were attempts, sometimes successful, by political circles, to accord these protests a nationalistic slant. Nationalist radicals became active participants in the protests, and even initiated them in some regions.

 

The Jewish Community

Some 250,000 Jews live in Russia out of a total population of about 144 million. There are more than 200 Jewish community organizations, operating mostly under the following umbrella organizations:

• Russian Jewish Congress (REK), founded in January 1996 by a group of Jewish businessmen headed by Vladimir Gusinskii, who was replaced in 2004/5 by Vladimir Slutsker.
• Federation of Jewish Communities in Russia (FEOR), founded in 1999 at the initiative of the Russian president, by Lev Levaev. Current head, Berl Lazar, one of Russia’s chief rabbis. The Chabad Lubavitch movement operates in cooperation with FEOR and has 84 branches throughout Russia. It sponsors programs and establishments, such as orphanages, humanitarian assistance, schools, summer and holiday camps and community centers; it also distributes religious symbols, such as menorahs and matzos.
• Congress of Jewish Religious Communities and Organizations (KEROOR), founded in 1997 by the other chief rabbi of Russia, Adolf Shaevich, and Pinkhas Goldshmidt. This organization is now part of REK.
• Movement of Modern Judaism – Hineni – founded in 1995 by Zinovii Kogan and part of KEROOR. This is a small organization based mainly in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
• Movement of Progressive Judaism founded in 1992, with branches in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Estonia.

All these organizations compete for the right to represent the Jews of Russia vis-à-vis the Russian authorities, Jewish organizations abroad and Israel.

A Center of Jewish Studies and Jewish Civilization at Moscow State University was established in 1991 by the Jewish University in Moscow. St. Petersburg has the Petersburg Institute for Jewish Studies and the Center of Biblical & Hebrew Studies. The JDC, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the World Union for Progressive Judaism, the ORT educational network and the Hillel Foundation for Jewish Campus Life all operate in Russia.

 

Extremist Organizations and Parties

Extremist organizations and parties mentioned in ASW 2003/4 continued to be active. In most cases, antisemitism is an integral part of their ideology.

Only two antisemitic comments connected to the Communist Party of Russia (KPRF) were recorded in 2004. On 11 March Communist Party presidential candidate Nikolai Kharitonov, in an interview with the Jewish News Agency (AEN), said Jews should be grateful to Stalin for founding the Birobidjan Autonomous Republic and the Jews should move there. He also accused Jews of atrocities against the Cossacks and of causing Russia’s problems today. In September, during a debate in the parliament on banning the advertisement of abortion services, KPRF member Nikolai Kondratenko, blamed the Jews for the high rate of abortions in Russia.

On 9 July 2004 Vladimir Zhirinovskii, head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), was among those who voted in parliament against a proposed law to prohibit the public display of Nazi symbols. The proposal was rejected.

Although stricken from the register of recognized organizations, the National Sovereign Party of Russia (NDPR), an alliance of radical regional organizations, headed by Aleksandr Sevastianov and Stanislav Terekhov, continues, among other activities, to publish a national newspaper, Russkii Front as well as several regional ones.

The National Bolshevik Party (NBP), headed by Eduard Limonov, is generally characterized by more left-wing opinions than nationalistic ones. However, in some regions the party is extremely nationalistic. For example, on 1 November 2004 the head of the NBP's Khabarovsk branch, Rem Latypov, was charged with incitement to ethnic hatred after antisemitic leaflets were found in his press secretary’s office.

There were few developments on the skinhead scene in 2004. Most of the circa 50,000 skinheads (compared to a few dozen in 1992) are organized in small groups. Although the skinhead movement is spreading geographically, its centers remain Moscow and St. Petersburg. While in St. Petersburg and in the northwest the main skinhead organization is the Svoboda (Liberty) Party headed by Iurii Beliaev, in Moscow the leading role is played by Slavianskii Soiuz (Slavic Unity – SS), a very active organization, headed by Dmitrii Demushkin, which is very successful in attracting new members.

Some extremist regional organizations, such as RNE headed by Aleksandr Barkashov and another RNE headed by the Lalochkin brothers, were once part of Russian National Unity (RNE).

 

Antisemitic Activity

Violent Incidents

There were several attacks against Jews, most of them toward the end of 2004. One of the most serious incidents occurred in Yoshkar-Ola on 25 September. Dmitrii Aron, son of the local Jewish community’s chairperson Mark Aron, was attacked at the entrance to the building where he lived. He was hospitalized after the attackers beat him several times in the face with their fists and a metal object. The victim lodged a complaint to the local police. Earlier, on 4 September 2004, the daily Mariiiskaia Pravda of the Republic of Mari-El had called for an attack on the family. On 2 September 2004 three skinheads with baseball bats shouted antisemitic remarks and threatened to settle accounts with the head of the local Jewish community and his family and set fire to the local synagogue.

Three attacks against Jews were recorded in Moscow in December. On 12 December the Azeri Muslim driver who worked for the Jewish community was beaten and insulted by policemen. They probably thought the driver was Jewish because of a menorah attached to the car window. On 15 December an Israeli citizen, originally from Dagestan, was approached at a train station by a person who put a knife to his throat and asked what his nationality was. When he answered that he was Jewish, he was beaten by two other men who shouted: “There are too many Jews here.” Two of the attackers were later arrested. On 23 December 2004, a religious Jew from Israel, who teaches at a local Jewish college for adults, was beaten by three young people near the Marina Roshcha synagogue in Moscow. The attackers also shouted antisemitic remarks.

As in previous years, desecration of Jewish graves and memorials was a common form of antisemitic violence. Such attacks, sometimes recurring at the same cemetery and in many cases accompanied by swastika daubing, took place at the ancient Victims of 9 January cemetery in St. Petersburg’s memorial complex in honor of Victims and Fighters of the Revolution located on Marsovoe Pole; and Jewish cemeteries in Kaluga, Tambov, Piatigorsk (twice), Petrozavodsk (twice), Astrakhan (4 times between January and May 2004), Makhachkala and Irkutsk. Jewish graves were also desecrated at cemeteries in Birobidjan, Taganrog and at Preobrazhenskii in St. Petersburg, where tombs were painted with the slogans “Heil Hitler” and “Skinheads.” At a Kirov cemetery tombstones of Jews and Tartars which bore non-Russian names, were vandalized. Several perpetrators were arrested and tried (see below).

Attacks on synagogues and other community property were also widespread throughout the year. There were a few arrests. For example, on 25 January a grenade was thrown into the yard of the synagogue in Derbent breaking almost all the windows. In early February an attempt was made to ignite the local synagogue and Jewish library in Cheliabinsk. Inhabitants from nearby buildings succeeded in extinguishing the fire. On 23 April, a group of skinheads entered the local Jewish center in Ulianovsk, shouting, “We want to know the face of our enemy.” They tore the flags of the Jewish organization and broke some windows. Skinheads were also involved in an attempt to break into a local synagogue in Penza in October. After they were stopped by the guard and congregants, they returned with reinforcements armed with chains and metal clubs. Two were arrested but not tried. On 9 November, the anniversary of Reichkristallnacht, graffiti showing a Star of David equated with a swastika and the slogans “Holocaust – a great fraud” and “Yid and Chechen – Brothers Forever” appeared at the entrance to the building of the Holocaust Foundation in Moscow.

In other incidents, an antisemitic sign with an explosive device blew up on, on 25 January, on Inessa Armand Street in Moscow, and posters and signs appeared in various places, saying, for instance, “Yids get out of Russia,” and “Yids in power – a threat to Russian national security” (in Moscow) and “Allah Akbar. Death to the Jews” (in Perm).

 

Antisemitic Rhetoric

Antisemitic utterances of public officials are rare. Nevertheless, on 26 January during a press conference the mayor of Norilsk, Valerii Mel’nikov, said one of the reporters was behaving “like a Jew.” On 1 July Russian senator Nikolai Kondratenko (KPRF), speaking at a conference in Beirut, accused the Zionists of genocide against the Russian people. He called on Russians and Muslims to cooperate against the worldwide Jewish conspiracy. He blamed the war in Chechnya on Moscow Zionists and called Jews terrorists and fascists who control the media. He also hinted that the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center was an Israeli-American plot against the Muslims.

On 18 August, LDPR leader and Duma representative Vladimir Zhirinovskii opposed the initiative of several State Duma deputies to mark Holocaust Memorial Day and refused to take part in a minute’s silence to commemorate Holocaust victims.

Other antisemitic outbursts occurred during a communist meeting in Kostroma in May when two youths began shouting from the tribune that the Jews dominated the country, until the police turned off their microphone; and on 25 May, during spontaneous street demonstrations in Moscow initiated by clients of the bankrupt First City Bank owned by Viktor Vekselberg, when some participants called to drive out all “Abramoviches, Khodorkovskyes, Vekselbergs and other Fridmans” from Russia.

 

Antisemitism in the Mass Media

The St. Petersburg TV 3 channel (transmitted also to Moscow and several other Russian cities) broadcast nationalistic and antisemitic propaganda on a program called “Our Strategy,” without intervention from the authorities. The hosts of the program were Mikhail Shiriaev (son of a well-known activist of the ultra-nationalist Pamiat and himself an activist of Za Rus’ Sviatuiu − For Sacred Rus’) and Nikolaii Smirnov (former activist of Pamiat St. Petersburg). For example, on 1 May 2004 the hosts and participants, among whom was Sergeii Baburin from the Rodina Party (known for his antisemitic and racist views), spoke of the “genocide of the Russian people” which they claimed was “less known than the Jewish Holocaust.” This ‘genocide’ included the destruction of churches by the Soviets in the 1920s and 1930s. During the discussion, photos of those allegedly responsible were shown, most of whom were of Jewish origin.

In January 2004, Nad Lovat’iu, the newspaper of the Velikie Luki local communist party published a known Soviet forgery, “Catechism – Behavioral Norms of USSR Jews.” The paper was not prosecuted. Other regional newspapers regularly publishing antisemitic material include Vechernaia Riazan’ and Patriot Marii El. On 5 September 2004 Biulleten’ Russkoii Avtonomii, published in Kaliningrad, printed an article by V. Levchenko, who claimed that a “Jewish government” had been established in the Kaliningrad region. The Kaliningrad prosecutor’s office opened criminal proceedings for incitement of ethnic hatred.

During the week of Passover, 5-13 April 2004, an antisemitic and racist article, “The Russian Yid Society,” was published in the online Ivanovo newspaper Kursiv Ivanovo. The local Jewish community reported it to the prosecutor’s office, requesting that charges be brought against the editor, Vladimir Rakhmanlov. On 26 April 2004 a second antisemitic article appeared on the site.

In early April 2004 the vice-premier for social affairs of the Altay Republic, Vladimir Torbokov, was dismissed after he gave an interview to the local newspaper Postscriptum under the title “We Have Nothing to Hide.” Torbokov had expressed his amazement at the appointment as prime minister of Mikhail Fradkov, formerly permanent representative of the Russia Federation at the EU: “Why should a country like Russia bring someone from abroad for the post of prime minister who is little known and of Jewish nationality [his father was Jewish]? Don’t we have enough talk about a worldwide conspiracy?” he said. In May the local prosecutor’s office issued a warning to the same newspaper against incitement of ethnic hatred after an article it published on 8 April 2004, by Iurii Pozdeev, “Features of the Anti-Russian Hunt – 2,” which discussed Jewish control over Russia and the ‘Zionist conspiracy’ in the Altay republic.

In August a “List of Enemies of the Russian People” appeared on the NDPR website. The list contained 47 names of journalists, politicians, human rights activists and experts in political extremism from Russia, as well as some addresses and phone numbers. Most of the names were Jewish.

On 11 December 2004 antisemitic hackers broke into a Russian Jewish website, www.rabbi.ru.. The hackers added a frame saying: “On entering this site, I confirm, that I am a representative of the low, f--king, race − Yids” and an OK button, which when clicked led to an antisemitic caricature and the slogans “Death to the Yids,” “Heil Hitler” and “Auschwitz is waiting for you.” They also changed the address so that it would contain the number 88 for ‘Heil Hitler’. On 27 December 2004 Dmitrii Demushkin, head of the extremist SS organization, admitted breaking into the website, claiming it was in retaliation for closure of a Nazi site.

 

Responses to Antisemitism

While officials from the president down often condemned antisemitic acts they preferred to label the perpetrators terrorists or hooligans rather than xenophobes or antisemites. Moreover, the number of convictions in antisemitic cases is far lower than the number of antisemitic offenses, and if a legal process is launched, it is often dragged out. For example, on 5 July 2004 members of a group suspected of having placed a grenade with an antisemitic sign in 2002 were arrested. The prosecutor’s office of Tomsk region opened a criminal investigation under Article 205 (terrorism), but the trial never began. Three of those convicted in 2004 under Article 282 of the Russian criminal code specifying antisemitic conduct were discharged. Mikhail Trapeznikov (Izhevskaia Divizia) was fined 50 thousand roubles in early April 2004 but he was absolved after he admitted his guilt. Igor Kolodezenko (Russkaia Sibir) was given a two and a half year probationary sentence on 20 December. A one-year probationary sentence handed down to the well-known antisemite Viktor Korchagin (Rushich) on 24 November was immediately repealed due to the statute of limitations. However, the decision was reversed on 23 December 2004 and the trial was to continue in 2005. The most serious punishment was meted out, on 24 November 2004, to Pavel Ivanov (editor of Russkoe Veche), who was prohibited from working as a publisher for three years for inciting ethnic hatred after he had published 18 antisemitic articles (July−Nov. 2002).

After some of the vandals who desecrated the Piatigorsk cemetery (in April and June 2004) were arrested, one was sentenced in August to two years imprisonment, and two who were under age were sent for a year and a half to a youth corrective institution. In November the regional court of Kaluga handed down a two-year suspended sentence to Alekseii Lapiutin and another under-age youth for desecration of the Kaluga Jewish cemetery in March 2004. According to the court verdict under Article 244 of the criminal code, the perpetrators, motivated by national hatred, were responsible for destroying 18 gravestones. Another three suspects went unpunished.

Only one organization was liquidated in 2004 – the Omsk organization of Old Believers − because of the use of swastikas. Several nationalist groups were stricken from the register of recognized organizations − in Pskov, Vladimir and other cities.

On 3 November 2004 the Volgograd antisemitic online newspaper Kolokol was closed by the provider after the local Jewish community filed a complaint, in keeping with an agreement which prohibits hosting a racist website.

 

Republic of Ukraine

The Jewish Population

Approximately 100,000 Jews live in Ukraine out of a total population of about 47 million. There are more than 200 registered Jewish organizations, some 40 of which are based in the capital Kiev. They operate under the umbrella organizations All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress, the Association of Jewish Communities and Organizations, and the Jewish Confederation or the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Ukraine.

            During recent years the community has suffered an increase in antisemitic manifestations.

 

Elections

Some antisemitic incidents in 2004 were connected to the October presidential election, which was mainly a struggle between two candidates: the pro-Russian Viktor Ianukovich (prime minister at the time of the elections and the choice of the president) and the pro-western Viktor Iushchenko (Our Ukraine bloc; representing the opposition), who was prime minister in 2000−1. The ‘Jewish question’ had been used by the regime prior to the elections to provoke anti-Jewish feeling since some members and supporters of the Iushchenko bloc, which came to power in 2002, were radical nationalists. Their opponents therefore tried to portray Iushchenko as an antisemite and the radicals as the ‘face’ of the bloc, although they had little influence.

Antisemitism also played a role in local elections. In the campaign for the May by-election to the parliament, a poster of candidate Georgii Selianin in Odessa, a supporter of the Jewish mayor of Odessa, was defaced with a swastika and a Star of David.

 

Antisemitic Activity

Violent Incidents

The number of violent incidents increased compared to 2003. On 14 January members of the Lvov Jewish community, who were giving out food to the needy at the cafeteria of the local Polytechnic University, were attacked by a security guard. The guard insulted the Jews and beat several of them. Later, the local press blamed the Jews for the incident, claiming that they did not want to give him food because he was not Jewish. The guard was fired from the university and an investigation was launched by the local prosecutor’s office; however the case did not come to trial.

Rabbis were also beaten and insulted in Kiev and Odessa: Rabbi Chaim Pikovskii near the Brodsky synagogue on 11 July and Rabbi Moshe Tayler, representative of Habad-Lubavitch in Ukraine, on a central Kiev street on 28 September; and Rabbi David Feldman, head of the School of Jewish Studies, and Rabbi Fishel Chichelnitski, chief rabbi of Belgorod-Dnestrovsk, on 24 August in Odessa. Only in the latter case did the police arrest one man, who had threatened the two rabbis that he would find them later and shoot them.

A yeshiva student was attacked on 28 August while he was walking with his family on Pushkin Street in Donetsk by a group of some 20 youths, who surrounded them chanting “Jew, Jew! Kike, Kike.” They knocked him to the ground and beat him.

During the week of Succot (1−7 October) antisemitic remarks, such as “We will hang you all − those of you who weren’t killed in Dachau,” were shouted at a group of Jews returning from the synagogue in Donetsk.

Several synagogues were also stoned and/or vandalized. Only in the case of the Brodsky synagogue, attacked on 1 December, was someone arrested. After rocks were thrown three days in a row at a synagogue in Ivano-Frankovsk at the end of April, the local chief rabbi criticized the police for failing to act and to protect the synagogue. At about the same time, the National Salvation Front had been circulating leaflets accusing the Jews of murdering Jesus and called for their deportation.

On 23 May, over 50 Jewish graves were broken in the Kurenevskii cemetery in Kiev. Local Jewish community leaders considered it an act of antisemitism, but the press secretary of the Ukrainian Interior Department, Viktor Korchiniskii, claimed the stones were merely ‘old’. Gravestones were also vandalized twice in August in the Jewish section of the Donetske More graveyard in Donetsk Oblast. The Satanic symbol ‘666’ had been painted on some of the gravestones. On 26 September two large swastikas were painted on a memorial in honor of the Jewish writer Paulyu Tselanu, in Chernivtsi (formerly Czernowitz).

Plaques at the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial were broken several times during the winter. On 5 April swastikas were painted on a Holocaust memorial located at the site of the local ghetto in Kharkov during World War II. In April, Jewish community activists discovered that vandals were removing gold from the memorial marking the mass graves of Jews killed by Nazis at Sosonky in Rivne. According to the head of the Rivne Oblast Jewish Council, the municipal authorities took prompt action to restore the memorial. On 11 June 2004 a memorial plaque in Khmelnitskii, where 8,200 Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, was damaged. Earlier in the same month the windows of the local Jewish community building were smashed.

On 7 March 2004 antisemitic slogans and swastikas appeared on buildings in Feodosia. Local police denied there were neo-Nazis in the town and labeled the incident ‘hooliganism’. On 21 December antisemitic graffiti was sprayed on buildings and on a World War II memorial in Cernigov. The slogans read, inter alia, “Kikes get out of here.”

On 18 February Jewish teachers from Ukraine and Moldova found a sign near the grave of Andri Yushchinskii in Kiev claiming the ‘Zhids’ had killed the boy. Mendel Beylis was falsely accused of killing the child in a 1911 blood libel case.

 

Antisemitic Rhetoric and Antisemitism in the Media

Interviewed on the Ukrainian Channel 5 on 27 March, opposition MP Vladimir Nechiporuk claimed that Ukraine was being ruled by a “kike-Mason mafia” and that the Soviet Union had actually been a “kike-Bolshevik regime.” He denied, however, that he was an antisemite, “just a patriot.” In announcing his candidacy for the presidential elections on 9 July, MP Bogdan Boyko, chairman of the People’s Rukh of Ukraine Party, accused the Jews of being a fifth column.

Antisemitic articles frequently appeared in small publications and irregular newsletters and rarely in the national press. The monthly journal Personnel, whose editorial board includes several parliamentary deputies, published an antisemitic article in each edition. Although on 20 April, the State Committee for Nationalities and Migration filed a lawsuit at the Kiev Economic Court against the journal and against the newspaper Personnel Plus for violation of the Law on Information and the Law on Print Mass Media, both newspapers continued to be published.

On 28 January, the Shevchenkovskii regional court in Kiev had ordered closure of the newspaper Silski Visti for incitement of ethnic hatred in connection with the 2002 publication of an article by Professor Vasil Iaremenko (Inter-Regional Academy of Personnel Management – MAUP) entitled “The Myth of Ukrainian Antisemitism,” and a September 2003 article, “Jews in Ukraine: Reality without Myths.” Both articles were part of his book, Ukraine Today: Reality without Myths. He claimed, among other things, that there was no antisemitism in Ukraine, although there were Zionists who had seized power and were oppressing the Ukrainian nation with the help of the mass media that was also under their control. Silski Visti viewed the court decision as a government attempt to close a major opposition newspaper prior to the October presidential elections. On 26 November the decision of the regional court was annulled.

In the meantime, the newspaper continued publication. In March it printed an article by MP Ivan Boky (Socialist Party) defending the newspaper against accusations of antisemitism. Boky criticized the Israeli ambassador in Ukraine, Naomi Ben-Ami, as well as Ukrainian Jewish leaders, referring to them as ‘bird-brains’ for calling the newspaper a fascist publication. Denying that Iaremenko’s article inflamed ethnic hatred, he claimed it was merely demonstrating an aspect of the current situation in Ukraine: the outbreak of Zionism and the dominance of Jewish capital.

 

Holocaust Commemoration and Responses to Antisemitism

On 9 June a memorial was unveiled in memory of psychiatric patients in Kiev murdered by the Nazis, more than half of them Jews. In the same month a memorial was unveiled in the village of Tsibulivka in memory of Jews murdered by the Nazis. In 1941 the Nazis had brought 2000 Jews there from Sireta; 390 had escaped with the help of the Red Cross, while the rest were killed.

On 21 July 2004 the then main opposition bloc in Parliament, Our Ukraine, expelled Oleg Tiagnibok, who had made an antisemitic speech during a rally in Ivano-Frankovsk Oblast on 17 July. The event had taken place at Iavorina Ridge, the burial site of Klima Savura, a commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army which had fought against both the Soviets and the Germans during World War II and also took part in the murder of Jews. He said there that just as the Insurgent Army had “fought against the Moskali [derogatory name for Russians]… against the Germans… against the kikes and against other filth who wanted to take our Ukrainian state from us,” it was now time to fight against the “Moskali-kike mafia” and “finally give Ukraine to the Ukrainians.” Charges of inciting ethnic hatred were filed, but they were dropped in December 2004.

 

Republic of Belarus

Alexander Grigirievich Lukashenko was first elected as president of Belarus in July 1994 and re-elected on 9 September 2001. After a successful referendum he initiated, in October 2004, on canceling the limitation to the number of presidential terms, he will run for a third term in the elections scheduled for in September 2006. Since 1994 Lukashenko has strengthened his power through various means, such as imposing restrictions on freedom of speech and the press. International observers of the last elections to the National Assembly held on 17 October 2004; criticized them as being flawed and undemocratic because of massive falsification and due to the fact that pro-Lukashenko candidates won every seat, after many opposition candidates were disqualified, allegedly for technical reasons.

 

The Jewish Community

There are about 28,000 Jews in Belarus out of a total of some 10 million. One of the main problems of the Jewish community is lack of financing since it receives almost nothing from the government. Moreover, since Belarus has no law of property restitution, no facilities confiscated by the Soviets have been restored to the Jewish community, although Catholics and Pravoslavs had their churches reinstated

The regime in Belarus is an authoritarian one. In February the International Humanitarian Institute in Minsk was closed by order of the authorities without explanation. This was the only independent higher education institute in Belarus with a department of Judaism. The institute was founded in 1999 and financed by international Jewish organizations.

On 18 August the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the local chapter of the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ) that it would not be re-registered. The US-based UCSJ, previously registered in Belarus as an American NGO, was one of the primary Jewish human rights organizations in the country, providing information about antisemitism, extremism and xenophobia and openly speaking out against them. Members at the UCSJ claimed that its activities had provoked the ministry’s act.

 

Antisemitic Organizations

During the winter of 2004, the nationalist, antisemitic Russian National Unity (Russkoie Natsional’noie Edinstvo − RNE), founded in Russia by Aleksadr Barkashov, distributed antisemitic leaflets in Gomel, which stated: “The Jews are trying to destroy Christianity,” “Now hostile activities against the Jews will begin,” “The Jews are the forces of evil,” and “The fighters against God must be exterminated.” In addition, the letters ‘RNE’ were sprayed on the walls of the Jewish community building in Gomel. No one was arrested.

 

Antisemitic Activity

Swastikas and antisemitic graffiti commonly appear throughout the republic. For example, on 22 January Stars of David were smeared on the Jewish community house in Novopolotsk. After the walls were repainted, phrases, such as “Death to the Kikes” reappeared. There were no arrests.

Desecration of Jewish cemeteries was reported in Bobruisk, Cherven and Rahachov. Although the Bobruisk perpetrators were caught at the scene, they were not prosecuted.

On 5 November 2004 the Holocaust memorial in Brest, unveiled in 1992 on the 50th anniversary of the murder of 34,000 local Jews by the Nazis, was defaced.

Despite a May 2003 order by the prosecutor general and the Ministry of Information to terminate distribution of the xenophobic, antisemitic newspaper Russkii Vestnik, its circulation resumed in February 2004 through the governmental distribution agency Belsoiuzpechat’. Sales of such literature continued throughout the year in government-owned buildings, at stores, and at events affiliated with the Belarusian Orthodox Church. Antisemitic and ultra-nationalistic Russian literature continued to be sold at Pravoslavnaia Kniga, which specializes in Orthodox literature and religious objects. Despite promises by the head of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Filaret, to stop the sales, nothing has been done.

In July 2004 Pravoslavnaya Initiativa (under the auspices of the Pravoslav diocese), a Minsk publisher known for its antisemitic publications, issued How an Antisemite is Made, by Deacon Andrey Kuraev, which includes antisemitic caricatures, and There Are No Bad Nations, which claims that the Soviet system was modeled on the Jewish kahal (community).

 

Attitudes toward the Holocaust

There is a tendency by the authorities to minimize the role of the Jews in the history of Belarus in general and in World War II and the Holocaust in particular. This attitude is particularly evident in the case of commemoration of Holocaust victims and the heroes of Jewish resistance. In practically all literature published by the state on World War II, the Jewish tragedy is not touched on at all or is mentioned only in passing, while the role of the Jewish resistance movement in the occupied territories is either minimized or totally ignored. The Holocaust is absent from almost all school and university history textbooks or is referred to obscurely. Jews are also denied the right to indicate on Holocaust memorials the number of Jews murdered, on the pretext that the Jews were not the only victims.

 

Responses to Antisemitism

Cases of vandalism decreased during the reporting period; no vandals have been convicted in the past 15 years.

In 2000 the prosecutor’s office labeled War under the Laws of Villainy – a collection of antisemitic materials such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, issued by Pravoslavnaia Initsiativa − a ‘scientific publication’, after the local Jewish community had complained (see ASW 2000/1). Pravoslavnaia Initsiativa has continued to publish similar materials without interference from either the authorities or the Pravoslav diocese.

In April 2004 the Belarus Ministry of Culture banned a movie, made in the US, Hitler: The Ascent of the Devil, because it contained antisemitic scenes.

 

Republic of Moldova

Moldova is a multiethnic country, the home of more than one hundred nationalities. According to the last census which took place in fall 2004, ethnic minorities comprise about 22 percent of the total population of 3.5 million (excluding Transnistria). Some 25,000 are Jews. The main Jewish organizations are the Moldovan Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities, and the Union of Jewish Organizations of Chisinau (SEVROK). The JDC operates a children’s library and Hillel has a branch in Chisinau. Chabad Lubavitch has synagogues in Chisinau and Tiraspol and is active throughout Moldova. There are two Jewish day schools and two pre-schools and at least eight Jewish Sunday schools. Chabad operates welfare and education programs and publishes a monthly newspaper.

Jewish schools are partly funded by the Moldovan government. Judaica departments were established in both Chisinau State University and the Academy of Sciences. Moldova has no restitution law. The Jewish community received only two of the many properties confiscated during the Soviet period.

In 1991 Mircea Snegur, the first president of independent Moldova, 1990−1996 (previously secretary of the Moldovan Communist Party) issued a decree supporting the development of Jewish national culture and guaranteeing the social needs of the country’s Jewish population. On 26 October 1994 the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova passed a press law, including article 4 which prohibits, among other things, publication of materials inciting national, racial or religious hatred. Moldova’s parliament adopted the resolution “On Ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities” on 22 October 1996. A law prohibiting any form of national discrimination was passed on 19 July 2001. In the same year the state guaranteed Jewish preschool education, and primary, secondary (general and professional), higher and post-university Hebrew and Yiddish language education. On 23 January 2002, the government issued a resolution regulating the activities of the Department on Interethnic Relations, forbidding ethnic or linguistic discrimination and providing equal rights to all ethnic groups residing in the republic.

 

Political Situation

In recent years the political position of the extreme right, including antisemites, has weakened. Iurie Rosca’s Christian Democratic People’s Party (PPCD), has traditionally been considered the main exponent of ethno-nationalist ideas, such as unification with neighboring Romania and abolishing the independence of multicultural Moldova. It has been argued that these ideas were inspired by the legacy of Romanian-fascist occupation of Moldova, 1941−44. Marshal Ion Antonescu, wartime dictator of Romania, is described favorably in publications connected with the PPCD. Antonescu was responsible for the death of more than 400,000 Jews and other minorities on the territory of Romania and Moldova (including Transinistria) during World War II. PPCD has moderated its public image in recent years, presenting itself as a party of European integration.

Racist and antisemitic views are sometimes expressed in centrist political circles too. One example is Nicolai Dabija, vice-chairman of the Social Liberal Party and editor of one of the most xenophobic newspapers in the country, Literatura si Art, financed by the state budget of Romania. The publication has promoted xenophobic, antisemitic and revisionist views for several years. In April 2004 it published an editorial in which Dabija described children of ethnically mixed couples as “at best mediocre individuals and as a rule disabled, criminals and losers.” The article was widely condemned, among others, by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. Nevertheless, he was reinstated as deputy chairman of the Social Liberal Party in December 2004. In the same month he was awarded a prize by the right-wing Independent Journalism Center, for his achievements.

 

Antisemitic Activity

Violent incidents motivated by antisemitism are quite rare in Moldova. However, a few antisemitic manifestations were recorded in 2004. For example, from 14 to 30 March more than 70 gravestones at the Tiraspol Jewish cemetery were damaged and desecrated with swastikas and antisemitic slogans, such as “Skins 88.” The offenders also destroyed a monument to the victims of Stalin’s 1937 repressions at the entrance to the cemetery. In September 2004 the extreme right newspaper Novii Pridnestrovskii Kurier denied that the incident had occurred, claiming it was a story fabricated by a Jewish charity, Dor l’dor, to raise funds. The perpetrators were not found.

On 4 May 2004 there was an attempt to set the synagogue of Tiraspol alight. Passers-by extinguished the fire.

Most antisemitism is expressed on the Internet, which is becoming increasingly popular among Moldovan youth. Internet discussion forums, such as moldova.net and yam.ro, have been used to spread ultra-nationalist and revisionist ideas. Such forums play an important role in Moldova, filling a gap that existed in the market of youth-oriented media.

 

Attitudes toward the Holocaust and the Nazi Era

On 4 April 2004 a monument honoring Holocaust victims was unveiled at the site of the ghetto in Rybnitsa, Transnistria, where 5,000 Jews were murdered by the Nazis. Former ghetto prisoners, eye witnesses, officials and guests from abroad attended the ceremony. The monument was financed by the Rybnitsa Jewish community, the JDC and the Moldovan Jewish Congress.

On 11 February 2004, a regional one-day seminar on teaching the Holocaust in high schools was held in Edintsi.

Revisionist historians who deny the Holocaust in Moldova and Romania and praise Antonescu as a national hero are influential in the country. Inspired by their Romanian colleagues, pro-Romanian nationalists in Moldova have become involved in the campaign to rehabilitate Marshall Antonescu and his policy on the ‘Jewish question’. The nationalist press lauded him and there was even a proposal to erect a monument to the conducator (‘leader’, in Romanian) in Chisinau (for example by the newspaper Tara [Fatherland], which also suggested naming a main street after him). The book Bessarabia in World War II (1941−1944) by the historian Anatol Petrencu, president of the Historians Society of Moldova, is a typical example of antisemitic propaganda minimizing Jewish suffering and blaming the Jews themselves for all their problems. This work and others like it are available in bookshops in Moldova and receive favorable reviews in the nationalist media.

An annual revisionist conference about the importance of 23 August 1939 (the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact) and 23 August 1944 (civilian uprising which overthrew Antonescu and led to Romania’s surrender in the war) in Romanian history took place in Chisinau on 23 August 2004. The conference was organized by the Moldovan Association of Historians, Association of Victims of Communist Occupation Regime, war veterans of the Romanian army and the Cultural Center Memoria − Neamului. Among other things, the participants discussed the personality of Antonescu and his contribution to the Romanian state.

In September 2004 a nationalist demonstration was held in Chisinau on the anniversary of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact. Participants carried placards with portraits of Antonescu. One of the organizers and a participant in the march was Oleg Brega, formerly a notorious radio commentator on Antenna C Radio and host of the program “Hyde Park,” which was closed down because of antisemitic and pro-Nazi statements made in 2003 (see ASW 2003/4). Brega then registered a new NGO under the name ‘Hyde Park’, presenting himself as a fighter for freedom of speech. He is also active online (on yam.ro, among others).

History teaching remains a major problem in Moldova. Pupils are taught ‘the history of Romanians’ that is, not of the country or the multiethnic nation but the history of the dominant ethnic group, and excluding minorities such as the Jews. The history books (many of them edited by the above mentioned Petrencu) include no information about the Holocaust and the Jewish heritage in Moldova. Moreover, some of the history handbooks present Antonescu in a positive, or at best, neutral, light. Currently, the Moldovan government, with the assistance of the Council of Europe, has initiated a project aimed at preparing an integrated history of Moldova as a multi-ethnic state. The project was strongly attacked by the newspaper Flux, of PPCD leader Iurie Rosca.

 

Responses to Antisemitism and Racism

At a ceremony marking the 86th anniversary of the Red Army, on 23 February 2004, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said his government would not allow the resurgence of fascism or xenophobia in Moldova. The ceremony was attended by war veterans and former inmates of concentration camps and ghettos from the World War II period.

Some local activist groups such as Helsinki Citizens Assembly and the Antifascist Democratic Alliance have taken action against antisemitism, by publishing articles in their magazines Collage and Ne Zabudem (We will not forget), and organizing seminars, round table discussions and competitions on Holocaust memory for school students. Fatima, an organization of Africans and African descendants in Moldova, has conducted important anti-racist educational work initiating seminars and sport activities. The Jewish newspaper Evreiskoe Mestechko (Jewish Shtetl) also contributes to the fight against antisemitism in Moldova.

 

TRANSCAUCASIA

Transcaucasia consists of three republics: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The region is marked by border disputes: Armenia supports ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh and in the early 1990s its military occupied 16 percent of Azerbaijan. Over 800,000 mostly ethnic Azerbaijanis were driven from the occupied area and from Armenia; in parallel, about 230,000 ethnic Armenians were compelled to leave Azerbaijan. Georgia’s border with Armenia remains undemarcated since Armenians in the Javakheti region of Georgia seek greater autonomy. In addition, Azerbaijan and Georgia have been unable to resolve their border disputes at some crossing points.

All Jewish communities in Transcaucasia go back many centuries and relations with the authorities and other nationalities are generally peaceful.

 

Republic of Armenia

Some 900 Jews, out of a total population of about 3 million (some 95 percent of whom are Armenian Apostolic) live in Armenia where the level of antisemitism remains low. The main accusation against the Jews is that they allegedly took part in the Armenian massacre by the Turks in 1915. In late June 2004 Amayak Ovannisian, head of the Union of Political Science of Armenia and member of the Armenian parliament, asked the prosecutor’s office to investigate whether the remarks of Tigran Karapetian, head of the TV ALM channel and chairman of the National Party of the Republic of Armenia, might be classified as defamation. Karapetian referred to Ovannisian during the program “Tsena voprosa” (The Price of a Question) as a pickpocket Jew and a liar, and accused the Jews of organizing the mass murder of Armenians by the Turks. No legal proceedings ensued.

Vandalism of Jewish property and sites was rare in 2004 compared to other countries. On 17 September and 17 October the Holocaust monument in Yerevan was desecrated. After the head of the Armenian Jewish community, Rimma Varzhapetyan-Feller, met with the advisor to Armenian President Garnik Isagulyan, on 26 October, the official promised to take steps.

In late December Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian met with representatives of Armenian Jewish organizations to discuss antisemitic remarks made by officials. He said that while there was no real antisemitism in Armenia, any isolated incident should be condemned.

 

Republic of Azerbaijan

Some 15,000 Jews live in Azerbaijan, out of a total population of about 8 million (some 93 percent of whom are Muslims). The Jewish community dates back many centuries: While Ashkenazi Jews arrived in the 19th century, Caucasian Mountain Jews (Tats) trace their roots in the region back before the 5th century. Judaism is officially protected as a ‘traditional’ religion. About 15 Jewish organizations operate in Baku, including the Baku Religious Community of European Jews, a Jewish Women’s Organization, a War Veterans’ Society, the Azerbaijan-Israel Friendship Organization, and the Chava Welfare Center for Women and Children. The JDC operates a Jewish kindergarten, a community center, a Hesed (welfare) center, and a Hillel student center. The Jewish Agency for Israel operates a Hebrew-language ulpan, a winter camp for children, and a parents’ club.

Although the country has no laws that specifically address antisemitism, the level continued to be low. Early in April 2004 the Jewish community of Baku received a threatening letter in Russian, with spelling mistakes, signed by the ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ and stating that on Passover they would avenge the death of Shaykh Ahmad Yasin. The authorities increased security of synagogues and sites of Jewish organizations in the republic. The Passover celebration was held at a Jewish school after a public hall, fearing violence, refused to host the event.

In December a translation into Azeri of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf was distributed in Baku. The Jewish community asked the authorities to stop sales of the book and to press charges against the publisher. Avaz Zeynalii, editor of the newspaper Khural, which published the book, was arrested. Rasad Macid, secretary of the Writers’ Union, thought the book should be on the market, while Rabyat Aslanove, chairwoman of the parliamentary commission on human rights welcomed its removal. Minister of the Interior Ramil Usubov informed the Jewish community that Zeynalli would be charged with propagating social, religious and national hatred; however, on 28 February 2005 the Azerbaijani authorities closed the case, claiming lack of evidence.

CENTRAL ASIA

About 80−90 percent of the population in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and 70 percent in Kazakhstan are Muslim, although not all are observant. The governments of these states are intensely pre-occupied by political Islam, whereby Muslim groups, and especially the banned, strongly anti-western, antisemitic transnational party Hizb ut-Tahrir try to influence the political situation on the basis of their religious beliefs. According to Begezhan Akhmedov, an officer of the Social Security Forces of Kyrgyzstan, in December 2004, there were about 10,000 members of Hizb-ut-Tahrir in the Central Asian countries. They worked hard at recruiting, especially among students, teachers and soldiers. The authorities strengthened their control of all mosques in the region.

 

Republic of Kazakhstan

Some 10,000 Jews live in Kazakhstan out of a total population of about 15 million. Most Jews in Kazakhstan today are Ashkenazi. Jewish religious and cultural life is well organized. Mitzvah, the Association of Jewish National Organizations of Kazakhstan, established in 1992, coordinates social services as well as the cultural and religious work of 15 Jewish cultural associations, 12 Hesed organizations, funded by the JDC, and 12 Jewish community centers. The Jewish Congress of Kazakhstan was created in December 1999, and businessman and philanthropist Alexander Mashkevich became its president. In March 2002, Mashkevich also assumed the presidency of the new region-wide Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. The Association of Jewish Communities of Kazakhstan, a Chabad Lubavitch organization, also plays an active role in Kazakhstan’s Jewish community and is a member of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS.

The continued printing and distribution of antisemitic leaflets by the Islamic fundamentalist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir was the only report of antisemitic activity. The government considers this organization to be illegal (it was officially banned in March 2005), and many of its members have been prosecuted for distributing leaflets and for membership in an extremist organization. For example, in October 2004 the regional court of Karaganda sentenced Faruk Abdugapparov to two years imprisonment for incitement to ethnic and racist hatred and membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir. He was arrested while distributing anti-Russia leaflets. In the same month the regional court of Chimkent sentenced Askhat Niyazov to prison after his arrest in April 2004 for distributing antisemitic and anti-Russia leaflets printed by Hizb ut-Tahrir in the local market.

 

Republic of Kyrgyzstan

Some 2,000 Jews live in Kyrgyzstan out of a total population of about 5 million. The small Kyrgyz Jewish community, concentrated in Bishkek, is divided into Bukharan Jews and Ashkenazis, the vast majority of whom immigrated from Russia, Ukraine and Poland during World War II. The Menorah Center in Bishkek, funded in large part by the JDC, runs a small Sunday school, a library and the newspaper Ma’ayan, and provides welfare services. An Aish HaTorah education center and a Jewish theater and dance group are located in the capital, and Maccabi organizes sports activities for youth.

            In October 2004 the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan reported that 66 cases of incitement, including antisemitic agitation, had been recorded since the beginning of 2004; 80 people were arrested, suspected of belonging to the banned organization Hizb ut-Tahrir; and 507 books, over 2000 leaflets and 28 audio cassettes with extremist content were confiscated.

 

Republic of Uzbekistan

Some 10,000 Jews live in Uzbekistan, out of a total population of about 27 million. A large Bukharan Jewish community has existed in Uzbekistan for centuries. The arrival of Jewish merchants from Persia may date from before 100 CE. During World War II many Ashkenazi Jews escaping the German advance arrived in Uzbekistan, adding to the Mountain, Georgian and other Jews there. The Federation of Jewish Communities (FJC) of Uzbekistan was founded in April 2000 as an umbrella group for the organizations of the Ashkenazi and Bukharan communities. The Tashkent Jewish Cultural Community Center (TJCCC) offers Hebrew, Yiddish and English language classes, youth clubs, summer camps and current affairs lectures. The JDC distributes aid to the Jewish community through the Hesed organization. An Israeli Center in Tashkent provides Hebrew lessons, youth clubs, social and cultural programs, an orchestra, and other activities. Jewish schools are located throughout Uzbekistan including a yeshiva and a Jewish girls’ college.

In Uzbekistan, too, members of the illegal Hizb ut-Tahrir distributed antisemitic leaflets throughout the country. On 29 July a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir was sentenced to seven years imprisonment by the regional court of Tashkent, after being found guilty of distributing literature which called for a jihad against Americans and Jews. On 31 August, nine members of Hizb-ut-Tahrir were sentenced in Samarkand to 3−14 years of imprisonment for incitement to hatred which appeared in the anti-Russian and antisemitic material they distributed.

Four people were killed in Tashkent on 30 July 2004 when suicide bombers blew themselves up near the Israeli embassy, the American embassy and the office of the prosecutor general. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan took responsibility. Islam Karimov, president of Uzbekistan and head of a committee to investigate the attack, said he blamed Hizb-ut-Tahrir, although they denied the allegation.

No cases of verbal harassment, physical abuse, or desecration of monuments or cemeteries motivated by antisemitism were recorded in 2004. The government of Uzbekistan promotes anti-discrimination and tolerance education in eleventh grade history textbooks. The authorized textbooks contain information about the Holocaust, the Nazis’ antisemitic policy, the extermination camps, and numbers of Jews killed. In addition, Jewish organizations regularly conduct seminars on raising Holocaust and antisemitism awareness.

 

The Baltic States

The three Baltic States, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, are parliamentary republics. All were under Soviet rule in 1940−1941 and 1944 (1945)−1991; they have been members of the European Union since 2004.

All three states established historical committees in order to research the period of World War II in their countries during the Soviet and German occupations, including the Holocaust. The main questions concerning the Holocaust which these committees are researching include: Who were the initiators among the local population of the atrocities against the Jews? To what degree did the Soviet occupation (July 1940−June 1941) influence the anti-Jewish atmosphere? What was the extent of the anti-Jewish atrocities (number of victims, numbers of collaborators among the local population)? (For the work of the committees, see individual countries below.)

 

Republic of Lithuania

Some 6,000 Jews live in Lithuania out of a total population of about 4 million, about 80 percent of whom are Roman Catholics. The Jewish Community of Lithuania (JCL), which has its headquarters in the capital Vilnius, is an umbrella organization for the Union of Youth and Students, the Ilan children’s club, the Gesher Community Center, the Jewish Cultural Club, the Union of Former Ghetto and Concentration Camp Prisoners, the Union of World War II Jewish Veterans, the Women’s International Zionist Organization, the Welfare Center, the Ezra Medical Center, B’nai B’rith, a dance and music group, and Maccabi Sports Club. It also publishes a newspaper. The Association of Jewish Religious Communities is an umbrella organization for communities in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda, and Plunge. The State supports Jewish institutions such as a kindergarten, a school named after Sholom Aleichem, a library, and the Jewish Gaon State Museum of Lithuania. A branch of the museum also operates at the memorial in Paneriai, a mass killing site near Vilna. In 2001 the Vilnius Yiddish Institute was established at Vilnius State University.

The Lithuanian constitution grants its citizens freedom of speech, press and religion, and these rights are generally respected in practice. The constitution and criminal code of the Republic of Lithuania prohibit all forms of national, racist and religious intolerance. Nevertheless, manifestations of ethnic hatred in the street and in the mass media are not infrequent. Moreover, in 15 years of Lithuanian independence, no trials have taken place under Article 170 Clause 1 of the criminal code, which stipulates imprisonment of up to two years for incitement of ethnic, racist, religious or other hatred.

 

Antisemitic Activity

Antisemitism has not been a serious problem in Lithuania in the past decade, although a number of antisemitic events were recorded. The desecration of places of mass burial of Holocaust victims, as well as vandalism of graves at Jewish cemeteries, is a recurring antisemitic manifestation throughout the republic. In the vast majority of cases, the perpetrators are never found.

In April 2004 two Jewish sites were desecrated: a memorial near Kaisidor, where 3,000 Jews were shot during World War II, and the cemetery in Vilnius, where several graves were damaged. On 13 August paint was poured on a Holocaust memorial in the Alytus Vidzgirys forest, near the town of Alytus. The memorial was erected 11 years earlier on a site where thousands of Jews were murdered by the Nazis. In December a Holocaust memorial and a nearby plaque in Varena, marking a mass grave of 3,000 local Jews murdered by the Nazis, were smeared with paint and various symbols. On 22 December several places of mass burial of Holocaust victims were desecrated, some with Nazi symbols, in the Barensk region, including near the villages of Miarkine, Martsinkonis and Ezherekaii.

At the end of January and again on 3 February 2004, members of the Jewish community, members of parliament and Foreign Ministry officials were mailed anonymous antisemitic messages, which referred to the Jews as “vampires of humanity,” a quote from a book by the Lithuanian ambassador to Israel, Alfonsas Eidintas, Jews, Lithuanians, and the Holocaust (2003). (The book tries to explain the behavior of Lithuanians during the Holocaust; the phrase is used as an example of Nazi propaganda and is not the ambassador's opinion). The letters also blamed the Jews for crimes against humanity committed in Lithuania during World War II and for genocide of other peoples. The head of the Jewish community, Simasas Alperavichus, called on national TV for the perpetrators to be found and punished. Although government representatives publicly condemned antisemitism in general, no investigation was launched.

On 20 February, one of the most popular national dailies Respublika began publishing an editorial series entitled “Who Rules the World?” with clearly antisemitic views. The final editorial provided the answer: the Jews. A cartoon accompanying the series showed grotesque caricatures of a Jew and a homosexual supporting a large globe. The editorial accused Jewish organized crime figures of exploiting the Holocaust tragedy in order to avoid punishment for their own criminal activities, and claimed that Jews were the wealthiest and most powerful social group in the world, with control over world events. Government officials at the highest level condemned the series. Local NGOs and representatives of other religious groups also denounced it. The Prosecutor General’s Office and the State Security Department launched an investigation of Respublika’s editor-in-chief for inciting ethnic and racial hatred.

 

Responses to Antisemitism

In April, the parliament formed a working group to draft legislation increasing the penalties for inciting antisemitism, racism and xenophobia.

According to the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), between January and September, the Prosecutor General’s Office opened several cases of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, including six of killings of Jews in 1941.

The government continued to support the International Commission for Investigating the Crimes of Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania. The commission, which includes historians, human rights activists, members of international Jewish organizations, and Lithuanian and foreign lawyers, produced several reports in 2004. In cooperation with Yad Vashem Jerusalem and other organizations, the commission promotes programs of Holocaust education, including tolerance development, in the country’s schools. The commission also organizes conferences and seminars to promote the development of a tolerant civil society.

However, while the Ministry of Education attempts to ensure the historical accuracy of school textbooks, the educational system allows a great deal of liberty for teachers to choose their own texts, and they are therefore able to use materials that are not approved by the government and which paint an unfavorable picture of the country’s Jewish community throughout history.

The government and the city of Vilnius continued a program using private funds to rebuild parts of the Jewish quarter in Vilnius on the understanding that the Jewish community would be able to use some of the space upon completion of the project.

 

Republic of Latvia

Some 10,000 Jews live in Latvia out of a total population of about 3 million, most of whom are Lutherans. Most Latvian Jews live in the capital Riga. There are about 20 Jewish organizations offering a broad range of services. The Riga Jewish community operates under the Council of Jewish Organizations. The Riga Jewish Community Center (JCC) was established in 2000 with the support of the JDC. The JCC provides educational and cultural programs for children, youth, and families, including a cinema, musical clubs and a sports program as well as summer camps. An ORT technology center for adults was opened in the center in 2002. There are two Jewish day schools in Riga – a secular day school and a Chabad Jewish private school. The Union of Jewish Youth of Latvia was founded in 1994 to promote Jewish education, address antisemitism, and develop community youth leadership. A Center for Judaic Studies was established in 1998 at the University of Latvia. The Latvian government provides financial and material support to the Jewish community. The government has provided the buildings for the Jewish day school and JCC as well as teacher salaries.

The Latvian Historical Committee organizes international conferences on the period of the Soviet and German occupations during World War II, the proceedings of which are then published. Like its counterparts in the other Baltic states, the Latvian committee stresses that the Soviet occupation of the country in 1940-41 had a great impact on the attitude of the local population toward the Jews during the German occupation.

Latvia has taken many positive steps toward promoting tolerance education. A government-sponsored Holocaust curriculum is included in the country’s educational program, and Ministry of Education regulations require teaching the Holocaust in schools. High school teachers have participated in Holocaust teaching seminars for the past five years.

On 18 June 2004 the Latvian government voted to erect a memorial to citizens who saved Jews during World War II on the site where the Riga synagogue, razed on 4 July 1941, stood. On 7 August a memorial was unveiled at the ancient Jewish cemetery in Preili in memory of 800 Jews murdered by the Nazis and local collaborators in 1941. Vlasdislav Vushkan, who saved eight Jews, was inducted into the ‘Righteous among the Nations’ during the unveiling ceremony. On 19 December two memorials were unveiled in the town of Malta near Riga in memory of 713 Jews murdered there in 1941−42. The memorials were built with the help of the regional council. The ceremony was attended, inter alia, by Imants Freiberg, husband of the Latvian president, the Israeli ambassador to Latvia and the first secretary of the Russian embassy in Latvia.

However, commemoration of Latvian Nazi collaborators continues in parallel. In September 2004 the nationalist organization Union of National Forces (NSS – Nacionala Speka Savieniba) distributed envelopes bearing a picture of Herbert Tsukurs, deputy commander of the Arajs Kommando squad, who was responsible for murdering tens of thousands of Jews and other civilians during World War II. He is also suspected of having been in charge of the Riga ghetto. In early July 2004 members of NSS established a political party to run in the March 2005 municipal elections. During a discussion held on 3 July 2004 near the city of Liepaia on the struggle against ethnic Russians, the chairman, V. Birze, called for opposition to Zionists and Jews who, he considered, ruled Latvia.

One case of violence against Jewish property was recorded, on 3 October 2004, when the windows of the synagogue in Daugavpils, which was undergoing restoration, were smashed. In addition, a swastika and the phrase “Beat the Yids in Dvinsk” were posted on the town hall.

In October 2004 the parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Public Integration Affairs, Alexander Brandas, asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate Aivar Garda, the publisher of DDD (‘De-occupation, De-colonization, De-Bolshevization’), for publishing articles calling for the deportation of Russians and Jews from Latvia. Aivar Garda is head of the extremist Latvian National Front.

On 23 February Ephraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) in Jerusalem, wrote to Yanis Lovniks, Latvian ambassador to Israel, complaining about antisemitic remarks, including a call to kill him, which appeared on the Latvian Delfi website. Zuroff had earlier criticized Latvian President Vayra Vike-Freyberg, who compared the crimes of the Communists in Latvia to the Holocaust in a speech at the Stockholm conference on racism and antisemitism, 26−28 January 2004.

 

Republic of Estonia

Some 2,500 Jews live in Estonia out of a total population of circa 1.4 million, about 13 percent of whom are Evangelical Lutheran. Estonia’s Jewish community declined drastically as a consequence of Estonia’s incorporation into the Soviet Union and during the German occupation. The current Jewish population, most of which live in the capital Tallinn, is small and relatively self-contained, though several American Jewish groups are active in the community. In Tallinn, Jewish life is focused on the renovated JCC and synagogue. The center offers a range of programs, services, and clubs. The JDC provides food packages, medical care, and home care to the elderly. Part of the JCC-synagogue complex houses a state-sponsored Jewish day school. The Progressive Movement supports small congregations in Haapsalu, Narva, Pärnu, and Tallinn. Sunday schools function in Estonia’s smaller communities.

The Estonian Historical Committee on the Soviet and German occupations during World War II published an interim report in 2001 (the first of the committees to publish an official report), which admits that the Estonian police, as well as civilians, took part in the murder of Jews. The report also states that the local inhabitants saw the Germans as liberators because of the Soviet occupation of Estonia, and especially the mass deportation of Estonians in June 1941.

Estonia is noted for its positive attitude to both the commemoration of Estonian collaborators during World War II and commemoration of Holocaust victims. A memorial to SS Estonian officer Alfons Rebans was unveiled in May 2004 in Viitna, a village in north Estonia. In May 1941 Rebans established the Forest Brothers battalion and fought against the Soviets. He collaborated with the Nazis and received several decorations from them. Although the memorial was a private initiative, the unveiling ceremony was attended by a member of parliament.

On 6 July 2004 the 12th rally of veterans of the Union of Fighters for the Liberation of Estonia, comprising the Forest Brothers and the 20th Estonian SS division, took place in Tallinn. The rally was attended by former president of Estonia Lannart Meri and former foreign minister Trivime Velliste. On 14 July 2004 Russian Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar called on the head of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, to protest. He explained that those who now were being called liberators were responsible for the extermination of the Estonian Jewish community during the Holocaust as well as Jews from other countries deported to Estonia by the Nazis.

On 20 August 2004 a memorial in honor of Estonian soldiers who fought and collaborated with the Nazis was unveiled in the town of Lihula. Jews both inside and outside Estonia protested against the ceremony, which was attended by about 2,000. In early September the memorial was dismantled following a government decision. Prime Minister Iuhan Parts said the memorial damaged Estonia’s image in the world, and apologized to Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kot.

At a rally of Estonian nationalists on 19 August 2004 demonstrators threatened that if the Jewish community did not apologize for the accusation made by director of the Jerusalem office of the SWC Ephraim Zuroff that over 1,000 Estonians voluntarily aided the Nazis to round up Jews during World War II, they would have to reassess their attitude toward Estonian Jews. Zuroff had visited Estonia in order to expedite the trial of Nazi collaborators who might still be found in Estonia. He also criticized textbooks for not mentioning Estonian participation in the Holocaust. His remarks caused a storm of protest on many websites, all denying Estonian participation and blaming only the Germans for the Holocaust.

In an interview published in Postimes in late January 2004, Estonian Minister of Education Toivo Maimets advised that commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day, 27 January, in schools should be held in conjunction with events marking the deportation of Estonians in 1941 and 1949 by the Soviets. He therefore equated the suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust with that of Estonians under Stalin, some of whom fought in the 20th SS division of Hitler’s forces.

In early September 2004 Tiit Madisson, a prominent Soviet-era dissident, head of the extreme right Central Nation of Nationalists and mayor of Lihula, published a book, The New World Order, which accuses the Jews of causing both world wars and the October Revolution, of financing Hitler, and of a conspiracy to rule the world. He labeled the Holocaust “the greatest historic lie,” Cyclone B “an insecticide” and Reichkristallnacht a Jewish provocation.

At the same time, memorial plaques were unveiled at sites of Jewish concentration and labor camps and of mass burial of Jews. On 9 September 2004 the Estonian government announced that within a year five memorials to Holocaust victims would be erected in Estonia on the land of former concentration camps.

In March, two persons were arrested in the northeastern town of Sillamae for painting antisemitic slogans and swastikas on the walls of a building. On 16 April the rabbi of a synagogue in Tallinn found a swastika daubed on the building. In July Prime Minister Iuhan Parts asked Minister of the Interior Margus Leivo to investigate the sale of T-shirts in Tallinn with a picture of Hitler and Nazi and antisemitic slogans.

In August a broad coalition to fight neo-Nazism was set up in Tallinn. The mayor of Maardu, Georgi Bistrov, said the group would comprise war veterans, concentration camp survivors, lawyers, local officials and human rights activists. They would start by distributing information and initiating projects such as the restoration of vandalized graves.