NCSJ - 08.19.2005

PRESS RELEASE

Release Date: August 19, 2005

Contact:

Mark Levin  Lesley Weiss (202-989-2500)

Minsk Holocaust Memorial Desecrated

Washington, D.C. – NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia today condemned the desecration of the Holocaust memorial in Minsk, Belarus and called on the Belarusian authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The memorial “Yama” or “The Pit”, erected in 1946 in memory of the more than 800,000 Jewish victims of the Nazis during World War II, was covered with the burnt fragments of wreaths and human waste. 

Leonid Levin, President of the Association of Belarus Jewish Organizations and Communities, said, “We consider this act of vandalism a manifestation of rampant anti-Semitism, and an instigation of inter-ethnic hatred. We have sent a request to the General Prosecutor of Belarus to take appropriate measures to prevent the growth of anti-Semitism, and to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.”

“This is not the first time this memorial has been vandalized,” NCSJ noted. It is yet another example of the unchecked anti-Semitism that is being ignored in Belarus.”

NCSJ is in ongoing contact with the Jewish leadership in Belarus about this issue and other issues of concern to the Jewish community.

NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia, is the mandated central coordinating agency of the organized Jewish community for policy and activities on behalf of the estimated 1.5 million Jews in the former Soviet Union, including the 75,000 Jews in Belarus.

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JTA - 08.22.2005

Belarus Shoah memorial desecrated 

(JTA) A Holocaust memorial in Belarus was desecrated last week.

The memorial Yama, or The Pit, erected in 1946 in memory of the Jewish inmates of the Minsk Ghetto during World War II, was covered last week with wreath fragments and human waste. Jewish leaders in Belarus requested that the authorities find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. A Washington-based group also called on Belarusian authorities to bring the culprits to justice. 

NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia said in a statement: “This is not the first time this memorial has been vandalized. It is yet another example of the unchecked anti-Semitism that is being ignored in Belarus.”