Anti-Semitic Incidents - December 1999

Anti-Semitic Incidents - December 1999

The number of anti-Jewish incidents was not especially high this month. In the U.S., however, it is notable that there was a rise in the number of cases of vandalism against various Jewish installations, as was apparent during 1999.

Belarus - The last Jewess living in the town of Mir, an old woman aged 75, was murdered after she testified in the trial of a Belarusian war criminal imprisoned in Britain. Jewish senior officials are convinced that the murder of the old woman was perpetrated by Belarusian nationalists.

U.S. - In Reno, Nevada, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a window of the 'Temple Emmanuel' synagogue. The bottle fell on the concrete floor of the synagogue but caused no damage. This was the third violent act committed against this synagogue.

In Duxbury, Massachusetts, paint bullets were fired at a Jewish home and a note was left beside the house which said, 'This is what happens when you don't decorate for Christmas'. The suspects were two girls, aged 15, students in the local high school. They were suspended from school and will be tried before a juvenile court.

Unknown persons damaged a menorah set up at the Law Center at Georgetown University. Twelve students reportedly stood around the menorah, making anti-Semitic remarks and indecent gestures.

Slovakia - Bratislava: During a Hanukah candle-lighting ceremony in the plaza where the Great Synagogue had stood, a number of skinheads made provocative remarks and gestures at the crowd which was composed of some 150 Jews and passersby.

Denmark - Copenhagen: Bottles, apparently Molotov cocktails, were thrown at the synagogue in the center of town, resulting in the shattering of three windows. The bottles were apparently thrown by a drunkard.

Germany - Unknown persons desecrated and smashed 14 gravestones in the Jewish cemetery in a town in West Germany close to the Dutch border. The police reported that signs left at the scene of the crime indicated that it was the work of Neo-Nazis.

A number of cases of swastikas sprayed were recorded in the U.S.: In Nuagatuck and Waterbury, Connecticut, swastikas were drawn throughout the city. The police arrested the suspects who were teenagers. In Glen Rock, New Jersey, swastikas were sprayed on the walls of an elementary school.

Norway - At the beginning of the month, threats were received over the answering machine in the Jewish community offices in Oslo. The statements included abusive remarks against the Jews and threats to harm the community rabbi. The local newspapers published that two youths had been arrested on suspicion of making the threats and will be indicted.

France - Phone threats were received at the synagogue of the 'Mouvement Juif Liberal De France'. The threats said, 'Jews, you should all be burned'. Abusive calls were also received at the Jewish radio station RCJ.

U.S. - Florida: A 77 year old shoemaker was arrested on suspicion of making some 15 telephone threats to Jewish centers and synagogues in the course of several months. In the calls he announced that bombs had been planted and that Jews would die.

Argentina - On 22 December, 1999, an announcement was received of a bomb planted in the local Jewish community building. It was therefore decided to evacuate the building. It was searched by the police but nothing was found.

Buenos Aires: On that same day an announcement of a bomb planted was received at the Amia building. When the building was evacuated and searched it was discovered that it had also been a false alarm.

Uruguay - A member of the Neo-Nazi 'Poder Blanco' organization made a public statement over the media and threatened that if his imprisoned friends were not released, attacks would be carried out against the Jewish community.

Italy - Padova: Obscene and abusive telephone statements were received by the community rabbi.

Rome has been recently undergoing a revival of anti-Semitism. The Fiama Tricolore (3-coloured Flame) movement held a demonstration in protest against government policy, which quickly turned into an anti-Semitic demonstration.

Rome: The Balbo synagogue and community center received an envelope containing a shotgun bullet and abusive slogans.

During a basketball game at the Palaeur arena between two Italian teams, fans waved anti-Semitic flags and slogans. One slogan read 'Pistoia (a city in Tuscany) and Rome, one heart, one oven'. In addition to the slogans, swastikas, Celtic crosses and a flag of the 'Forza Nuova' movement were distributed.

A Neo-Nazi website called 'Honour and Faith' (Onore E Fedelta), based in Argentina, recently published a detailed list of 40,000 Italian Jews and called for wiping out the 'Jewish disease'. The site was shut down.

Switzerland - Genoa: Many copies of an anti-Semitic flyer were pasted all over the city by unknown persons. The flyer said, 'Only Jews can be racists'.

Australia - The notorious Holocaust denier Frederick Toben returned to Australia after serving seven months imprisonment in Germany and has already begun a lecture tour throughout the country.

Peru - Lima: The Ashkenazi community rabbi was verbally attacked by a car driver when the rabbi was entering the synagogue. The driver swore in Arabic and shouted 'Death to all the Jews'. The Liberty Radio (Radio Libertad) radio station broadcasts a daily program on international subjects presented by Dr. Vargas Prada. Anti-Semitic attitudes are frequently expressed.

Poland - The court in Opole in western Poland cancelled the lawsuit against a historian accused of denying the Holocaust. The court explained its decision by the fact that the historian had in the meantime moderated his views and statements on the Holocaust.

Czech Republic - Decin: Photographs of the president, prime minister and former speaker of parliament of the United Liberty (US) party were displayed on the bulletin board of the Republican party. Under the photographs was written, 'Jewish Freemasons and murderers of the Czech nation' and an explanation that the goal of these Jews was 'the ruin of the country and destruction of the Czech nation'. A list was added of Jews active in politics since 1989.

U.S. - Anti-Zionist Internet surfers took over a survey by a news site and chose the Balfour Declaration, which recognized the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, as the 'worst idea of the millenium'.

Germany - At the Protestant church in Berlin, the minister Olaf Lunow delivered a sermon before 300 worshippers asking forgiveness for the Church's execution of 35 Jews in 1510. He also asked his congregation not to show restraint when they encountered cases of intolerance.

The notorious 70 year old Neo-Nazi activist, Manfred Roeder, was convicted by a German court of Holocaust denial and received a 2-year sentence without appeal.

The small town of Buedelsdorf is the first to join the fund to compensate World War II forced labourers.

Switzerland - Two reports with harsh conclusions were published against the conduct of the Swiss government towards refugees during World War II (by the Bergier committee) and towards the banking system at the time (by the Volcker committee.

Romania - In a letter to the president of Romania, the head of the Anti-Defamation League expressed his dissatisfaction at the decision of the Cluj municipal council to set up a memorial for the tyrant Ion Antonescu who collaborated with the Nazi regime and organized the transport of Jews to concentration camps. In the same letter, the ADL director denounced the desecration of the Jewish cemetery in Resita in November 1999.

The Netherlands - Hague: Three suspects were reportedly arrested for desecrating cemeteries. They apparently belong to a Neo-Nazi organization.

Italy - The former chairman of the Jewish community expressed her sorrow that the Italian legislative system has not succeeded in contending with racism over the Internet.

U.S. - Chicago: The Federal court decided to deport Anton Tittjung who during World War II had belonged to the Nazi SS's Death's Head Division and was a guard in a concentration camp in Austria. His American citizenship had already been revoked in 1990.

The Appeals Court decided to expel the former Nazi Nikolaus Schiffer who had served as a guard in a number of concentration camps, including Sachsenhausen. Schiffer's citizenship was revoked in 1993.

The Amazon company acceded to the Weisenthal Institute's request and stopped selling the book 'Mein Kampf' to Germany via the Internet. Barnes and Noble took a similar action.

Groups of blacks and Jews have purchased websites disseminating racist ideas and statements in order to prevent radical right-wing groups from using them.

Britain - The British Home Office decided to expel to Australia, the Australian citizen Konrad Kalej who, according to the Weisenthal Institute, was responsible for the death of thousands of Jews in Latvia during World War II. The Home Office claimed it had no authority to arrest Kalej and put him on trial.

Germany - Germany is considering opening a website to assist in returning art treasures stolen by the Nazi regime to their Jewish owners.

Russia - In a festive and emotional ceremony, the Russian authorities returned to the Jewish community ten torah scrolls which had been confiscated in the twenties from Jewish synagogues and had been kept till the present in the country's official archives.