Antisemitic Incidents in Kostroma Oblast: January 2002

By Andrey Osherov [Translator's Note: Mr. Osherov is head of the Kostroma Jewish community (affiliated with FEOR) and UCSJ's monitor in the region.]

A few days ago, a Jew came to our community (he asked that his name not be used) and told us about the situation happening in the city of Nerekhta. Over the past year, we have tried to go to the Jews of Nerekhta in order to help them build a Jewish life, but our work has not resulted in the desired goal because the RNU [Translator's Note: Russian National Unity-a violent neo-Nazi group] is active in the city. People are afraid to respond to our call. The city is covered with RNU leaflets and a lot of antisemitic and anti-Caucasian graffiti with slogans like "Beat the kikes," "Beat the black-asses" [Translator's Note: A pejorative term for people from the Caucasus], and "Monkeys, go home." Antisemitic literature and audio and video cassettes that incite ethnic hatred are actively distributed in the city. The RNU actively recruits supporters among the local youth, it terrorizes Jews and people from the Caucasus, and there are reports that RNU fighters have purchased explosives in the village of Burmakino in Yaroslavl Oblast. Along with "informal structures" the RNU runs rackets in Nerekhta and Kostroma. In December, the door of a Jewish family's apartment was set on fire (the man who came to visit us is member of that family). He told us that he is constantly being threatened and advised not to engage in work to attract Jews to community life. He informed us who is threatening him.

The RNU branch was until recently headed by a certain Vasily Yurevich Khorev, a former Party organizer for the local Communist Party of the Soviet Union cell at the Nerekhta SMU-8 [Translator's Note: The rough equivalent of a Department of Public Works]. He lives in Nerekhta on K. Libkhnet Street, building 18. Now he is trying to organize the RNU in Kostroma, while in Nerekhta "the boss" who builds on his work is a certain Sergey Aleksandrovich Kiselyov. The RNU in Nerekhta feels free to act because the chief of the city police Mr. Nishchev is a former classmate of Khorev, who often "doesn't notice" the RNU and sympathizes with them.

The day before yesterday, an alarm signal came from a Jewish family living in the village of Loparevo in the Galich District. Skinhead youths with RNU armbands attacked a 15 year old boy in Galich in the evening as he was returning home. This took place at the train station of the city of Galich!!! They attacked in a pack against one person, so there was no chance of a happy ending, and as a result, the boy needs medical treatment for a concussion and several other injuries. I have written previously that in Galich, the RNU acts almost openly and recruits supporters in the city schools. They know about this in the city administration, but as we see, no measures are yet being taken.

In Kostroma it has become calmer, thank G-d! Let us hope it lasts!

Respectfully,

A. Osherov

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