Report of Anti-Semitic Incidents - Feb-97

(Government Secratariat)

GENERAL

The number of attacks and violent incidents increased to a certain extent in February, in comparison with January. Among them, three attacks on synagogues, in Poland, Belgium and Italy, are noteworthy. This increase, however, does not change the scope of the relatively small amount of violent anti-Jewish activity of the last few months.

Propaganda continued to appear in the public press, on the Internet and in drawings of abusive slogans against Jews. Switzerland was prominent this month also with abusive and threatening letters sent to the offices of Jewish communities, institutions and individuals.

Local signs of struggle against anti-Semitism this month included fines for throwing bottles at a synagogue in Scotland and a letter of apology from a newspaper in Peru in which anti-Semitic comments had appeared.

It was published in France that Maurice Papon, the governor of Bordeaux during the Vichy regime who collaborated with the Nazis against the Jews, will be put on trial in October, 1997.

In Germany there were stormy demonstrations by thousands of right-wing and neo-Nazi demonstrators against Left-wing supporters following the arrival in Munich of an exhibit showing crimes of the German army in World War II.

The gold, property and bank accounts of Holocaust victims in the banks of Switzerland continued to occupy the Swiss press and the world media this month. Manifestations of anti-Semitism continued in Switzerland but there were also instances of a public desire to confess guilt and repent. It was decided to set up a fund to assist victims of the Holocaust and their families.

ATTACKS AND INCIDENTS

Poland - There was a fire in the Nozyk synagogue in Warsaw. The arsonists broke the window above the main entrance and threw in burning tin cans containing inflammable material. The main entrance and front hall of the synagogue were entirely burnt. No further damage was caused. The fire was discovered by a police patrol that happened to pass by. The synagogue guard was hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

Belgium - There was an attempt to set the Anderlecht district synagogue on fire in Brussels. A container of inflammable material was attached to the front door of the synagogue. A police patrol passing by succeeded in extinguishing the fire in time. No damage was done.

Italy - There was an attempt to set fire to the entrance of a building housing a youngsters' synagogue and the offices of the Jewish Hospital on an island in the Tiber River in Rome. It was discovered in time and firemen succeeded in controlling the fire. No damage was caused.

Britain - Graffiti was written on the "South London Liberal Synagogue".

A group of skinheads entered a hairdressing salon in London known as a Jewish hairdresser's and caused a disturbance. A number of days later a sticker with the words 'WHITE POWER' was pasted to the window of the salon and a swastika was drawn on the sticker.

Unknown persons broke into the "Wolfson Hillel"' synagogue in the Southgate district of London. A previous break-in had not succeeded. This time swastikas and graffiti were drawn on the bulletin board. In another incident at a school youths threw stones at school pupils.

Ukraine - A fire broke out in the Jewish Center in Kharkov. The secretariat and entertainment hall were damaged. The fire apparently broke out when a Molotov cocktail was thrown from the street and entered the secretariat on the second floor where the windows were not barred. The police arrested three suspects who belong to a right-wing movement called the 'Slavic Union'.

Argentina - Unknown persons broke a window in the entrance to the "Habad- Lubavich" Center in the city of Tucuman. The attackers threw stones and bottles at the front door. There was also an attempt to break down the front door with a steel plate. The only damage was to the door.

A suspicious package was found near the funeral hall of the Buenos Aires Jewish community which belongs to Amia. The package contained a dummy grenade without any explosive material which was wrapped in a newspaper.

THREATS

Greece - An anti-Semitic letter was sent to one of the members of the Jewish community in Athens. It contained a series of curses referring to the stereotype of the Jew and threats against the Jews in general saying that the time had come for the Jews to die. At the end of the letter the writer praised the Third Reich.

Two successive anti-Semitic phone calls were received by a Jewish woman from the Athens community. In both conversations her life was threatened.

Puerto Rico - The secretariat of the local Jewish Community Center (JCC) received a threat that a bomb had been planted. The caller identified himself as a representative of an Iranian neo-Nazi organization. The building was vacated and searched but nothing was found. A few days later another threat was received of a bomb planted in two synagogues on the island. The buildings were again vacated and searched but once more nothing was found.

PROPAGANDA

Britain - An anti-Semitic letter was received at the "Jewish Society" offices of Cambridge University. The letter contained a picture of Hitter and the slogan, "Ein volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer". The sentence, "Next time we'll kill those of you who have remained", was added in handwriting.

The radical Right-wing (National-Revolutionary) "English Nationalist Movement" (E.N.M.) uses the publishing house 'The Rising Press' to disseminate anti-Semitic literature, Holocaust denial and the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion'. Publications can be acquired through the mail from a catalogue which the publishing house puts out.

Switzerland - Letters of threats and abuse continued to arrive this month at the offices of the Jewish community in Zurich (I.C.Z.), to Jewish institutions in Bern and to individuals. The letters are vulgar and violent and contain swastikas and various anti-Semitic symbols such as a stamp with Hitler's picture.

A Left-wing denunciating poster with the words "Action Directe" and a five-pointed star against a red background was pasted opposite the "Republic National Bank" in Geneva which belongs to a wealthy Jew of the Jewish community. The same poster was pasted beside the "Noga Hilton" hotel which is also owned by a Jew.

Greece - Two anti-Semitic racial "jokes" referring to Holocaust motifs appeared in an Athens sports newspaper called "Fos" (The Light) which supports the Greek 'Olympiakos' basketball team. The "jokes" were published in the newspaper after Olympiakos lost a game to Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

Australia - Graffiti were drawn on the floor outside a Melbourne synagogue.

STRUGGLE AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM

Scotland - A number of youths were arrested in November, 1996 after they threw beer bottles at the "Netherlee and Clarkston Hebrew Congregation" synagogue in Glasgow. This month one of the accused was sentenced to pay a 400 pound sterling fine at the Sheriff Court in Glasgow for throwing beer bottles at the synagogue.

Switzerland - About 5,000 believers from various churches throughout Switzerland gathered together before the government building in Bern. They carried signs denouncing anti-Semitism and calling for giving compensation to Holocaust victims who deposited their money in Swiss banks. The signs also asked the government to rectify the injustice done to the Jews. The demonstrators stated that they felt degraded by Switzerland's attitude towards the Jews and that they expressed regret and concern over the revival of anti-Semitism.

Poland - The arson in the Nozyk synagogue in Warsaw was strongly denounced by all shades of the political spectrum in Poland. President Kwasniewski denounced the "barbarous act which is contrary to Polish culture and the tradition of tolerance and respect for holy places". The Ecclesiastical Committee for Dialogue with Judaism issued a declaration condemning harm done to any place of worship, The weekly 'WPROST' denounced the event and referred to the public poll in the mid-nineties, according to which one- third of educated Poles did not want Jews in their family and one half of them would not accept a Jew as their employer. The newspaper strongly attacked the anti-Semitic Right-wing press.

Peru - A Lima sports newspaper "La Fiera" published in its news column various anti-Semitic comments. Following a meeting between the Security Commission and the Committee for Community Relations with the newspaper's representatives and an expression of protest on what was written, the paper made an official apology. The editor also promised that such incidents would not reoccur.

POLITICS AND ANTI-SEMITISM

Britain / Germany - Senior British politicians demanded Prime Minister John Major to lodge an official protest to Germany against an article published in the prestigious German daily "Frankfurter Algemeine", in which Foreign Minister Malcolm Rifkind was called "the Jew Rifkind". The expression aroused a great deal of anger in Britain because of its connotations. The German newspaper, which is close to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, refused to retract the expression or publish an apology. A German government spokesman denied that the expression was anti-Semitic. He admitted that the term was vulgar but refused to apologize or denounce the expression.

MISCELLANEOUS

France - It was publicized this month that Maurice Papon, aged 86, will be tried after 16 years investigation for crimes against humanity. Papon was the governor of Bordeaux during the Vichy regime. During his term as governor he collaborated with the Nazis in France and turned in hundreds of Jews, including their names and places of hiding. Papon also assisted in transporting Jews to the death camps. Subsequently, after the war, he was not only not punished for this, but became a minister in Giscard D'Estaing's government. In October, 1997 his trial will take place in Bordeaux because the accused was the governor of that city during the Vichy regime.

Germany - About two thousand demonstrators took to the streets in Magdeburg in former East Germany in protest against neo-Nazi violence following the murder of a young man in the city by a radical Right-wing youth. The body of the victim was found in a neighborhood where many Skinheads and neo-Nazis live. A boy known for his sympathy towards neo-Nazis admitted to the murder.

Violent demonstrations of about 11,000 people took place in Munich following the opening of an exhibit called "War of Destruction: German Army Crimes 1941-1944". About 4,000 neo-Nazis claimed that it was "forbidden to sully the name of fighters who had defended the homeland". Against them were about 7,000 supporters of the left who claimed that "those soldiers and all of Germany are responsible for the Holocaust". They were angry because the exhibit included a collection of incriminating documents and photographs proving that in contrast to what had been hitherto thought, the crimes of Germany in World War II were committed not only by the "Special Squads", the S.S. and their helpers, but by simple soldiers, the Wermacht and the German Army.

The subject of gold, property, and bank accounts of Holocaust victims found in Swiss banks continued to occupy the world media this month. The government of Switzerland published an announcement welcoming the decision of three large Swiss banks to immediately establish a "Humanitarian Fund" to aid Holocaust victims and their families. The Swiss government will continue its activities and commitments on the subject so that still unsettled issues will be resolved.