News

Academic Year in Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Begins With Scandal

The National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” (NaUKMA), one of the leading Ukrainian universities, has traditionally begun with a lecture for all students, usually read by important scholars, writers, and public figures before they are awarded professor emeritus of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Previously, such September 1 inaugural lectures were read by figures of such caliber as Paul Ricoeur, Sergei Averintsev, Adam Michnik. This year, to the surprise and indignation of many, the man invited to address the students was Sergei Byelokon' – a Ukrainian historian, unfortunately famous not only for his archival studies, but for an anti-Semitic position openly voiced in his publications.

Memorial to Jews killed by Nazi vandalized in Ukraine

June, 1, 2012 Swastikas were painted on the Remember Memorial to genocide victims – civilians killed in the Nazi occupation of 1941-1943 – in Novomoskovsk, Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region. The regional police department had initiated the criminal case on ”Hooliganism” (p.3 article 296 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code).

Moldovan Jews struggle to maintain their historic community amid poverty, anti-Semitism

CHISINAU, Moldova (JTA) — To tour the largely empty Jewish communities of Moldova and its capital, Chisinau — once known by Jews the world over as Kishinev — is not to wonder where did all the Jews go but why there are any remaining.

Latvian Minsiter Resigns in Protest of Holocaust Restitution Plan

June 21, 2012 BRUSSELS (JTA) — Latvian Justice Minister Gaidis Berzins has resigned in protest of plans to offer restitution for Jewish property seized after the Holocaust.