AMBASSADOR VISITS VANDALIZED HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L MINSK 001207

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
DEPT FOR DRL/IRF OLIVIA HILTON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREF KIRF BO
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR VISITS VANDALIZED HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL


Classified By: Ambassador Karen Stewart for reasons 1.4 (d).

Summary
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1. (C) Ambassador visited Minsk's Yama Holocaust Memorial and
two other related sites on November 15. The Yama site had
been vandalized on November 11, when unknown persons drew a
swastika on the memorial's main monument, splashed white
paint on bronze statues, and left leaflets signed by the
"Belaya Rus Aryan Resistance Front," calling for a war on
supporters of Judaism and "those under the aegis of the
United States." The police opened a criminal investigation
into the desecration of the memorial, but the BKGB refused to
investigate the Belaya Rus Aryan Resistance Front, since it
does not view the leaflet as a security threat. Jewish
leaders and political analysts, however, consider the
vandalism to be a calculated attack and not simply a case of
teenage hooliganism. End summary.

Holocaust Memorial Vandalized
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2. (U) On November 15, Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission
visited the recently vandalized Minsk Yama Holocaust
Memorial, which commemorates the 5,000 prisoners of the Minsk
ghetto who were killed by Nazis on March 2, 1942. On
November 11, vandals drew a white swastika on the main
obelisk and splashed several bronze figures with white paint.
The perpetrators also left leaflets signed by the "Belaya
Rus Aryan Resistance Front" calling for a war against
supporters of liberal democracy and Judaism and "others
rushing to a new world order under the aegis of Talmudism and
the USA."


3. (C) Joint Distribution Community representative Artur
Livshits, who provided a guided tour of the Yama memorial and
other Jewish memorials in Minsk, told Ambassador that the
police were able to remove the swastika from the obelisk with
a special paint remover. However, the paint remains on the
bronze figures, as the police claimed there were not enough
supplies to clean the statues.

Teenage Hooliganism or Anti-Semitic Attacks?
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4. (U) Independent press reported that Israeli Ambassador to
Minsk Zeev Ben Arie called for a full investigation into the
memorial desecration, especially given that the Israeli
Cultural and Information Center was also vandalized with
swastikas and anti-Semitic graffiti over the same weekend.
According to independent press, the Minsk police have
launched a criminal investigation into the desecration of the
Yama Memorial. However, independent press reported that the
Belarusian Security Services (BKGB) refused to investigate
the Belaya Rus Aryan resistance, claiming that the leaflet is
not a security risk and the vandalism was a simple case of
teenage hooliganism.


5. (C) Livshits believes that the memorial desecration is not
just the work of teenage vandals, but was a calculated
anti-Semitic attack. Political analyst Vladimir Podgul
speculated that the GOB might have ordered the attack. As
"proof", on November 16 he showed Poloff a 1997 recruitment
flyer for a radical, nationalistic youth group that
Lukashenko supported and financed. According to Podgul, a
comparison between the language from the 1997 flyer and the
language of the flyers left at the Yama Memorial demonstrates
that the same group authored both documents.

Comment
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6. (C) While Podgul's conclusions may be far-fetched, these
recent acts of vandalism indicate an increase of anti-Semitic
acts in Belarus. (Note: For more information on
anti-Semitism in Belarus, please refer to the International
Religious Freedom Report. End note.) In the past, leaders
of the Jewish community reported that individual acts of
anti-Semitism occurred within Belarus, but denied that
anti-Semitism was promoted by the state. However, a
continued increase in the number of anti-Semitic acts may
cause the Jewish community to rethink its assessment.
Stewart