Minsk Vandalism - 05.28.2003

 

 

 

Minsk Monument Vandalized

U.S. Emb. Responds to Belarus Vandalism (May 30)
Belarus Cemetery Controversy (June 11)

To: Interested Parties From: Mark B. Levin, NCSJ Executive Director Over the weekend there were three disturbing anti-Semitic incidents reported in Belarus - in Minsk, Bobruysk, and Timkovichi. First, the Holocaust Memorial in Minsk (Yama) was spraypainted with anti-Semitic slogans and swastikas. According to one of the Minsk Jewish community leaders, the police responded immediately and the Procurator General's office has opened an official investigation. There is a great deal of concern within the community that this latest action is not a random act of violence. Also, in the town of Bobruysk and the village of Timkovichi, head stones were desecrated in the local Jewish cemeteries. Leonid Levin, President of the Association of Belarusian Jewish Organizations and Communities, visited Bobruysk yesterday, meeting with local authorities and Jewish community leaders.  NCSJ has been in contact with the Belarus Embassy in Washington, DC, and the Department of State. As new information becomes available, we will share it with you. Read September 2002 Belarus Report: Anti-Semitic Vandalism and Desecrations

1946 Yama Holocaust memorial, vandalized May 26 Part of post-Soviet Yama memorial, also vandalized May 26

NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia – a voluntary, not-for-profit agency created in 1971, is the mandated central coordinating agency of the organized American Jewish community for policy and activities on behalf of the estimated 1.5 million Jews in the former Soviet Union. NCSJ comprises nearly 50 national organizations and over 300 local federations, community councils and committees across the United States. Through this extensive network, NCSJ mobilizes the resources, energies and talents of millions of U.S. citizens, and also represents the American Jewish community in dealings with similar national groups abroad, and at international fora.

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