Rare News Desk
Jews in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Donetsk were met by masked men Sunday and ordered to register their names and possessions with the emerging pro-Russia leadership, according to Israeli media.
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Jews leaving synagogues following Passover eve prayer were among those handed leaflets that commanded all people of Israeli heritage to provide a list of property they own and pay a $50 registration fee “or else have their citizenship revoked, face deportation and see their assets confiscated,” reported Israeli news company, Ynet, according to USA Today.
A summary of the pamphlet stated all Ukraine citizens of Jewish descent older than 16 years of age must report to the Commissioner for Nationalities in the Donetsk Regional Administration building and “register.”
“ID and passport are required to register your Jewish religion, religious documents of family members, as well as documents establishing the rights to all real estate property that belongs to you, including vehicles,” the leaflet goes on to note.
“We don’t know if these notifications were distributed by pro-Russian activists or someone else, but it’s serious that it exists,” Donetsk Jewish resident Olga Reznikova told Ynet.
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoff Pyatt, said these threats are “the real deal,” according to a tweet from CNN anchor, Jake Tapper.
Leaflets like this targeting Jews in eastern Ukraine seem to be "the real deal" says US Amb. to Ukraine @GeoffPyatt pic.twitter.com/RlJyGo6iCN
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) April 17, 2014
“The text reminds of the fascists in 1941,” Reznikova said in reference to the Nazis who occupied Ukraine and many other nations during World War II.
Donetsk is home to a highly active area in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, where the “temporary government” is overseen by Denis Pushilin. Pushilin confirmed that his organization distributed the leaflets but did not validate the content of the papers.
One international affairs expert explained the distribution effort as a move to increase xenophobic fears of the majority. Drawing the majority in to pushing toward a specific cause and focusing on one enemy — in this case, the Jewish population of Donetsk, Ukraine — people may think they are protecting themselves, explained Michael Salberg, director of the international affairs at the New York City-based Anti-Defamation League.
It’s the same way Adolf Hitler began his rampage in the early stages of World War II and eventually imposed on many cities and a continent.
“The message is a message to all the people that is we’re going to exert our power over you,” Salberg said. “Jews are the default scapegoat throughout history for despots to send a message to the general public: Don’t step out of line.”
Update
Via The World Post late Thursday afternoon, it is still unknown who specifically handed out the flyers and world leaders are cautioning that this is not a government-orchestrated operation but should still be a concern that someone seeks to create fears among eastern Ukraine’s Jewish population.
Today, the Western press caught up with the Ukrainian rumor mill: apparently, the People’s Republic of Donetsk had ordered all Jews over the age of 16 to pay a fee of $50 U.S. and register with the new “authorities,” or face loss of citizenship or expulsion. This was laid out in officious-looking fliers pasted on the local synagogue. One local snapped a photo of the fliers and sent it to a friend in Israel, who then took it to the Israeli press and, voila, an international scandal: American Twitter is abuzz with it, Drudge is hawking it, and, today in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry slammed the fliers as “grotesque.”
