55. The writer also was unable to visit the Home
for Assisted Living operated by the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine under
the sponsorship of Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich.
According to Yevgeny Ziskind, the executive director of several of Rabbi
Bleich's organizations, "not very many people" reside in the
Home. It simply has become too expensive
to operate, he stated. (At the time of
the writer's last visit in 2011, 27 elderly Jews resided in a building intended
to house 85 when fully occupied.) Some
space on upper floors of the six-story building had been leased to commercial
concerns, said Mr. Ziskind.
Ukrainian
Jewish Organizations
56. The Association of Jewish Organizations and
Communities of Ukraine, better known as the Ukrainian Vaad, is
chaired by Iosif Zissels, a longtime Jewish community observer and
leader in Ukraine. The Vaad works in
four main areas: Jewish property preservation and restoration, as well as
archival research; interethnic tolerance; representation of Ukrainian Jewry in
various international forums; and operation of Jewish community programs in
small Jewish population centers, focusing on summer camps for adolescents. The Vaad has sponsored heritage expeditions
to places of Jewish interest in Ukraine, and Mr. Zissels himself is regarded as
a capable analyst of Ukrainian Jewry.
Iosif Zissels is a
veteran professional in the Ukrainian Jewish community. He is a native of
Chernivtsi.
Photo: the writer
(in 2011).
Mr. Zissels also serves as
Chairman of the General Council (Ukraine) for the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress,
i.e., a coordinator/executive director, of EAJC activity in Ukraine. Now that Vadym Shulman of
Dnipropetrovsk has become President of EAJC (replacing Aleksandr Mashkevich of
Kazakhstan in November 2011), Mr. Zissels said, it is likely that EAJC will
become more active in Ukraine. EAJC will
pay the Vaad for implementing an agenda in Ukraine that is in line with the
Vaad's own goals. These areas of mutual
interest, Mr. Zissels continued, include community relations, interethnic
tolerance, preservation of Jewish heritage (identifying, restituting, and
maintaining old Jewish buildings and cemeteries), Holocaust awareness among
non-Jews, leadership development (in cooperation with the Jewish Agency),
Ukraine-Israel relations, and certain other topics. The EAJC/Vaad also will distribute recovered
Torahs to Jewish institutions without denominational bias.
As the new
President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, Vadym Shulman of Dnipropetrovsk is
expected to expand the EAJC profile in Ukraine.
Photo:
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=246320. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
Restitution
of old synagogue buildings
confiscated by the Soviet regime and further damaged during World War II and
the Holocaust is a major problem, stated Mr.
Zissels. About 800 pre-war
synagogues have been identified in the country, fewer than 75 of which are
being used by Jewish communities. Many
of the remaining 700+ synagogue structures are being used by government
authorities for other purposes.
Unfortunately, he noted, some restitution is blocked by Orthodox rabbis who,
unable to use the structures themselves, block their transfer to non-Orthodox
Jewish groups that could use them constructively. Preservation of these structures is a
second problem, Mr. Zissels said. In
many instances, no demand exists for a restored functioning syna-gogue, but the
buildings could be developed into small museums of Jewish life or transformed
for other purposes that serve the Jewish community. Mr. Zissels referred to an old synagogue in
his home town of Chernivtsi that has traditional painted walls and classic
stonework; it would be a wonderful small Jewish museum, Mr. Zissels said, but
restoring it and developing it into an active museum would require a
substantial financial outlay.
The combination
of the global economic crisis and Ukraine's own turbulent politics is very
bad for local business, observed Mr. Zissels.
No one knows what will happen, he continued, and, therefore, no banks
are extending credit and no one is investing.
The uncertainty and lack of forward motion create a moral crisis; people
believe that they should take some action, but are too fearful of unknown
consequences to do anything. It's likely
that Jews, he continued, are in a somewhat better position than the average
Ukrainian because, in general, Jews have more money, but the situation is
unpleasant for everyone. This sense of
indecision and doubt makes fundraising very difficult.
No particular
problems regarding antisemitism are visible, said Mr. Zissels in
response to a question. He is unaware of
any antisemitic attacks on people. In
common with other observers, he believes the well-publicized beating of a
yeshiva student in Kyiv during the Pesach holidays was not antisemitic in
intent. The murder of Hennady Akselrod
and two bombings in Dnipropetrovsk almost certainly were business-related, and
not incidents of antisemitism, he said.
57. Vyechesalav Likachev is a recognized
specialist on antisemitism, working for the Vaad and other
organizations. The main trend in 2011
throughout Ukraine, said Mr. Likachev, was less antisemitic violence
against people. Some Jews were victims
of physical attacks, he continued, but it was difficult to verify antisemitic
intent.
The only
exception, Mr. Likachev stated, is Uman, which is in a category of its
own as a place of pilgrimage for thousands of foreign hasidic Jews at Rosh
Hashanah. The pilgrims appear to locals
as "strange people with strange behavior" who are tolerated only
because of the money that they bring into the local economy. Unofficial and unlicensed restaurants,
hostels, and other businesses spring up solely to exploit the pilgrims - and
corruption erupts as merchants and schemers battle for advantage among the
thousands of visitors. The local
political opposition seizes upon the unseemly chaos, using strong antisemitic
rhetoric. Ukrainian right-wingers often
join the turmoil, using such slogans as, "Ukraine without hasids!". Physical clashes also occur, Mr. Likachev
said; usually, local people initiate violence, but some hasidim, perhaps fueled
by alcohol, also start brawls. Rarely is
there any official response to the disorder.
So far in 2012,
said Mr. Likachev, the 2011 pattern continues.
The well-known attack on yeshiva student Aaron (Aleksandr) Goncharov
during Pesach in Kyiv probably was not antisemitic in intent. The hospital that treated him stated that he
had alcohol in his system; he may have fallen or perhaps he was the victim of a
robbery.
Jews are not
the primary target of ethnic violence, Mr. Likachev stated.
Young toughs and/or right-wingers are more likely to attack foreign
students or refugees, especially if they are Asians or Africans. Individuals of different racial backgrounds are
very visible and, if their residency status is uncertain, they are afraid to
report such incidents to the police.
Antisemitic
vandalism continues, said
Mr. Likachev. The most common targets
are Jewish cemeteries, synagogues, and Holocaust memorials. Seventeen or 18 cases were reported to
authorities in 2011, perhaps 50 percent of the total. The perpetrators rarely are found, Mr.
Likachev stated, unless some incriminating evidence is uncovered when they are
under investigation for another offense.
Some Jewish cemeteries are in remote locations, observed Mr. Likachev,
and some Jews in small cities and towns are too frightened to inform incidences
of antisemitic violence to local police.
Hate speech, including antisemitic hate speech, is
difficult to prosecute because the relevant Ukrainian law was badly
written. Police simply do not want to
deal with it and will try to pass off antisemitic or other hate speech as
"hooliganism", Mr. Likachev stated.
Mr. Likachev finds
the current political situation troubling and believes that it may
generate more antisemitism in the coming months, particularly as the country
moves toward Rada (Parliament) elections in October. The radical rightwing Freedom party (Всеукрайнский союз свободы) has "re-branded" itself, said
Mr. Likachev, abandoning its swastika-like symbol. However, its policy and rhetoric remain
right-wing and antisemitic. It is viewed
as an authentic alternative to President Viktor Yanukovych's Party of
Regions by some individuals, particularly in more nationalistic western
Ukraine, and may attract enough votes to earn seats in the Rada. President Yanukovych himself is a problem in
that he routinely uses "violent" language, such as vowing to
"exterminate" the opposition.
Such language seeps into general society, Mr. Likachev observed, and
contaminates ordinary dialogue. Behavior
also may be affected.
A large amount of antisemitic content can be found on the Internet,
Mr. Likachev stated. Sixty to 70 percent
of this anti-Jewish and generally xenophobic material originates in Russia and
some of it is translated into Ukrainian for maximum exposure. German- or English-language Internet
antisemitism has little impact because few Ukrainians speak German or English,
commented Mr. Likachev.
Vyecheslav
Likachev is a specialist on Ukrainian xenophobia and antisemitism. He has conducted many surveys monitoring such
phenomena in Ukraine.
Photo:
the writer.
Anti-Zionist
related antisemitism,
similar to that prevalent in western Europe, is anachronistic in Ukraine, Mr.
Likachev averred. After seven decades of
Communist rule, few Ukrainians are responsive to Marxist-Leninist views. Left-wing thinking is too reminiscent of the
Soviet years. However, he continued, some
anti-Zionism can be found in publications of the Ukrainian Orthodox church.
Similarly, antisemitism generated by Moslems is uncommon in
Ukraine simply because the Moslem population in the country is very small. Foreign Moslems paid for the many bigoted
publications of MAUP (
Міжрегіональна
Академія
управління
персоналом or
Interregional Academy of Personnel Management) between 2002 and 2007, but the MAUP leadership who received these
funds was forced out of office in 2007 and the antisemitic books and articles
stopped. The number of Arab students at
Ukrainian universities is small, and police monitor their activity closely.
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