Chabad.org - 04.22.2010

Kiev Jewish School Again Forced to Deal With Anti-Semitism

By Tamar Runyan

A Jewish school in Kiev, Ukraine, is being forced to once again upgrade its security systems after unknown vandals spray-painted anti-Semitic curses and images in the middle of the night.

According to Devorah Levenharts, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary whose husband, Rabbi Mordechai Levenarts, serves as principal of the Simcha School, staff arrived Tuesday morning to find the blue-colored graffiti on three exterior walls. The discovery came two-and-a-half years after an arsonist set fire to the school’s entryway, and two years after stones were thrown into classrooms and an on-site synagogue.

Local police opened a joint investigation with Israeli security officials, and Levenharts said that administrators will be expanding security measures in an effort to further protect students. She said that the children have been adjusting to the latest incident.

“We asked them to prepare posters to portray their reactions to what they saw,” said Levenharts, who oversees the Jewish studies’ curriculum and sends two of her children to the school. “Unfortunately, this is not something new.”

Last week, a group of neo-Nazis entered Kiev’s Jewish museum and shattered displays before continuing on to the Israeli embassy where they protested outside of the building, she added. “It is so important that people understand that the ideas we read about in history books are very much alive, right here.”

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YNetNews - 04.22.2010

'Happy Holocaust' sprayed on Jewish school in Kiev

By Aviel Magnezi

Security forces in Ukraine presume anti-Semitic graffiti sprayed on wall of Jewish school in honor of Hitler's birthday. Director of Chabad Youth Organization says, 'I fear for childrens lives'

A Star of David hanging on gallows, and the words "happy Holocaust," "Death to the Jews," "Death to Israel," swastikas and a range of cruses against the Jewish people and the State of Israel were sprayed on a Jewish public school in Kiev on the eve of Independence Day.

It seems as though the perpetrators carried out their crime in a bid to mark the birthday of Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.

According to assessments made by local security forces, neo-Nazi group activists are responsible for the vandalism carried out on the night between Monday and Tuesday. The said school is a Jewish state school in Kiev that is run by the Chabad Youth Organization.

The wall of the Jewish school in Kiev. Swastikas and SS emblem

Moti Levenhartz, director of the Chabad Youth Organization in Kiev, who sends two of his children to the school, claimed in a conversation with Ynet that this latest attack is a step up in anti-Semitism.

"It happens here and there that graffiti is written against Jewish, foreigners, or blacks throughout the city. But in this instance, there was penetration into the very heart of the school in which 500 students learn, from a day care up to high school," explained Levenhartz.

In 2007, the school was torched, but that incident was attributed to youth vandalism. Levenhartz now claims that there is no more place for speculations. "It could be that we were naïve. I am concerned for the Jewish children. I have two kids in this school, one is a year and six months and one is three years old, but all the kids in the school are like my own children."

Regarding sentiment among the Jews in the city, Levenhartz said, "It is especially scary in light of the fact that the local security services explained to us that it wasn't just prank, but was carried out by an organized group that understands the area. At first, we attributed it to Independence Day, but the police here attribute it to Hitler's birthday."

Levenhartz said that security around the school will be increased significantly following the incident: "There are a number of active neo-Nazi organizations here, and we will increase security from now on. We will find the budget and will hire a security company and will add a fence and cameras. Though the police secured the school last night, you can never know how long this will last."