Text of report in English by Belorussian news agency Belapan. Minsk, 20 November:
The heads of European Union member countries' embassies in Minsk on Monday [20 November] laid wreaths at the Yama Holocaust memorial that was damaged in a vandal attack a week ago.
Fried Nielsen, Germany's charge d'affaires, said at the ceremony that it was aimed at showing solidarity with the Jewish community in Belarus. "We are shocked at the vandal attack," he said. "We expect that those guilty would receive deserved punishment."
Israeli Ambassador Ze'ev Ben-Arye also expressed hope that vandals would be brought to account.
Leanid Levin, leader of the Union of Belorussian Jewish Public Associations and Communities, said that he had been barred from the STV television network's show that covered, among other issues, the vandal attack. He said that the STV presenter had described Jewish culture as alien to Belarus. "Such description is insulting to Belarusian Jews who have been living on the Belarusian land for centuries. We do not draw a line between Jewish and Belarusian culture because they are entwined with each other as closely as the roots of one tree," he said.
The memorial to prisoners of the Minsk ghetto was damaged few days after the International Day Against Fascism and Anti-Semitism observed on 9 November. Vandals splashed white paint on bronze figures along the steps leading to the stela and white-painted a large Nazi swastika on the upright pillar.
They left leaflets signed by "Belaya [White] Rus Aryan Resistance Front". "The act signals the onset of an uncompromising struggle against enemies - traitors to the Fatherland and liberal democracy advocates, against Judaism and Freemasonry in their various manifestations and against other henchmen of a new world order under the aegis of Talmudists and the USA," the leaflet reads.
The building where the Israeli Cultural and Information Centre is located also was damaged in a vandal attack. Vandals daubed swastikas and wrote anti-Semitic graffiti, reading "Beat Sheenies", across the front of the house.
The Tsentralny district police department launched a criminal probe.
By Belapan news agency, Minsk, in English 20th November 2006
Here we have another example of intolerance. This article came to our attention because Freemasonry is quoted in the same breath as Judaism and is very, very reminiscent of Nazi propaganda which led to the Holocaust in which at least 80,000 Freemasons were included in the Final Solution. There are a number of pages about Freemasonry and the Holocaust in this web site and to read more on this grisly subject click here or on the previous link.
Update: Probe into vandal attack on Yama Holocaust memorial in Minsk suspended
A senior investigator of Minsk's Tsentralny district police department, Hanna Sobal, on March 16 suspended a four-month-long probe into the November 12, 2006 vandal attack on the Yama Holocaust memorial, Lyubow Murylyova of the Information and Public Relations Office of the Minsk city police department said in an interview with Belapan. According to Ms. Murylyova, the probe was suspended because of the failure to identify those who should be subjected to criminal prosecution. Vandals splashed white paint on bronze figures along the steps leading to the stele and white-painted a large Nazi swastika on the upright pillar. They left leaflets signed by "Belaya Ru's Aryan Resistance Front." "The act signals the onset of an uncompromising struggle against enemies - traitors to the fatherland and liberal democracy advocates, against Judaism and Freemasonry in their various manifestations and against other henchmen of a new world order under the aegis of Talmudists and the USA," the leaflet read. The police instituted criminal proceedings under the Criminal Code's Article 341 that penalises the defacement of "structures" and damage to property. Ms. Murylyova also said that there is no registered organisation of this name on the territory of Belarus and any other information concerning it may not be disclosed because this would damage the investigation. The building housing the Israeli Cultural and Information Centrer was also damaged in a vandal attack last year. The vandals daubed swastikas and wrote anti-Semitic graffiti across the front of the house.