Jews Ordered to Register or Face Deportation

DONETSK, EASTERN UKRAINE (ANS) -- U.S. officials Thursday denounced what one called a “grotesque” leaflet ordering Jews in one eastern Ukrainian city to register with a government office, but the Jewish community there dismissed it as a “provocation.”

The flier demanding the Jews to register their nationality or face deportation (Photo: Olga Reznikova in Ynetnews).

According to a story by CNN, the fliers were handed out by masked men in front of the main synagogue in Donetsk, where pro-Russian protesters have declared a “People's Republic,” Jewish leaders there said.

The document warned the city's Jews to register and document their property or face deportation.

According to a story by Michal Margalit for Ynetnews.com, a translation of the flier began by saying, “Dear Ukraine citizens of Jewish nationality, due to the fact that the leaders of the Jewish community of Ukraine supported Bendery Junta,”( a reference to Stepan Bandera, the leader of the Ukrainian nationalist movement which fought for Ukrainian independence at the end of World War II) “and oppose the pro-Slavic People's Republic of Donetsk, (the interim government) has decided that all citizens of Jewish descent, over 16 years of age and residing within the republic's territory are required to report to the Commissioner for Nationalities in the Donetsk Regional Administration building and register.”

Ynet said the leaflet detailed what type of documents the Jewish citizens would need to supply, “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 flier laid out the consequences for those who failed to obey the new requirements. “Evasion of registration will result in citizenship revoke (sic) and you will be forced outside the country with a confiscation of property.”

The flier also demanded that Jews pay a registration fee of $50.

Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, told CNN's “The Lead with Jake Tapper” that a respected Jewish leader in Ukraine showed him a photograph of one of the fliers. He called the document “chilling.”

And in Geneva, where diplomats held emergency talks on the Ukrainian crisis, CNN said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the leaflets “grotesque” and “beyond unacceptable.”

However, CNN said, the Jewish community statement said relations between the Jews of Donetsk and their neighbors were amicable, and the self-proclaimed head of the “People's Republic,” Denis Pushilin, denied any connection to the fliers.

Read more -  http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2014/s14040101.htm