Anti-Semitism in Ukraine

"Far from being controlled by neo-Nazis, the new [Ukrainian] government includes several members of ethnic minorities, including Russians. The new government has an Armenian minister of internal affairs and a Jewish deputy prime minister."
Amelia Glaser, professor of Russian literature, University of California, San Diego

"Yes, we are all aware that the political opposition and the forces of social protest who have secured changes for the better are made up of different groups. They include nationalistic groups, but even the most marginal do not dare show anti-Semitism or other xenophobic behaviour. And we certainly know that our very few nationalists are well controlled by civil society and the new Ukrainian government -- which is more than can be said for the Russian neo-Nazis, who are encouraged by your [Russian] security services."
open response-to-Russia letter published by Ukrainian Jewish groups in North American newspapers

"Putin is just using anti-Semitism as a kind of tool to discredit the Euromaidan process. He doesn't care about anti-Semitism."
"If he had cared about anti-Semitism, he would have acted differently, because anti-Semitism in Russia and neo-Nazism in Russia is a much more significant problem than in Ukraine."
Anton Shekhovtsov, political scientist, University College, London

A worshipper arrives at a synagogue in Donetsk, Ukraine.

Masked men distributing leaflets several weeks ago in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, to inform resident Jews that they were required to register with authorities to avoid deportation, caused huge, but temporary apprehension in the Jewish population of Donetsk, a historically-established community of Jewish-Ukrainians.

Whoever published and distributed the tract is still unknown, though the name attached to it was the separatist Donetsk People's Republic, which has denied being involved. Now, Jewish leaders in the city view the incident as a pernicious provocation, to make them uneasy and fearful, part of the usual anti-Semitic agenda among Ukrainian nationalists and pro-Russian provocateurs.

It is, however, illustrative of how both sides have used the threat of anti-Semitism to demonstrate to the West that it is not they who are virulently bigoted, but their antagonist opposites; thugs, racists, nationalists. All Jews over 16 were instructed to register with the 'provisional' government; failure to act as ordered would see their property confiscated and themselves deported. This was seen as a response to the anger of the support of Ukraine's Jewish leaders for the Euromaidan movement.

"From our perspective, the real issue is, whatever the motivation, whoever the source, this was an incident of anti-Semitism that echoes the treatment of Jews in Germany by the Nazis in the 1930s, a message of intimidation", according to Michael Salberg, director of international affairs, for the Anti-Defamation League, in New York. "The context is not just the echo of Nazi Germany, but centuries of violence and scapegoating and singling out of Jews in Ukraine and in Russia."

According to Anton Shekhovtsov who specializes in European extreme right group activities, though right-wing groups did fractionally emerge in the Euromaidan movement, they have a much higher representation in the pro-Russian separatist movement in southern and eastern Ukraine. "I would say that for the majority of those pro-Russian fascist groups that have been active in Ukraine, anti-Semitism is one of the defining features."

Anti-Semitic posters, fascist banners and Nazi salutes were on public display within the pro-Russian extremists' activities in southeastern Ukraine. "I think that what we're seeing play out in Ukraine is this tactical anti-Semitism, where the Jew becomes the instrument of trying to advance the agenda", observed Shimon Fogel, chief executive of the Centre for Israel & Jewish Affairs, in Ottawa.

"The agenda on both sides is to discredit and undermine the credibility of their adversaries in the eyes of the international community that's looking on with a great deal of anxiety. To be sure, I think that the Jews do feel a degree of anxiety and distress. I think that is shared by all Ukrainians who are unsure where things are going. But there is always an additional element of fear that attaches to Jews because of the bitter history, of how they have been the victims of all sorts of civil unrest, especially in that part of the world."

"When Jews are considered a natural part of the Ukrainian nation, anti-Semitism in Ukraine should wane, and the temptation to use anti-Semitism in politics should follow", claimed a more optimistic Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League.