Although Yeltsin and the reform-oriented parties have tried to present themselves as progressive and multicultural, other top Russian leaders such as Zyuganov, Zhirinovsky and others have made a number of antisemitic statements.

The following are examples of such rhetoric:

Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said "The Western world's culture, ideology and world view are increasingly influenced by the Jewish Diaspora [which] traditionally controls the financial life of the continent."- National Conference on Soviet Jewry 1996 Report: Inside the Soviet Union

As a favorite to win the June 1996 presidential elections, Gennady Zyuganov often sounded reasonable. However, his writings prove him to be "a conservative traditionalist, a Russian nationalist, [and] a proponent of pan-Slavic reunification," wrote Adrian Karatnycky, president of Freedom House, in a March 5, 1996 op-ed in the New York Times. Last summer, Zyuganov published Beyond the Horizon in which he writes that the "ever more perceptible influence of Judaic dispersal consistently grew by the day, even by the hour, " causing moral decline in the West. He assails the United Nations and the threat of a world government dominated by foreigners.- New York Times, March 5, 1996

Gennady Zyuganov writes in his book I Believe in Russia (1995), "The influence of the Jewish Diaspora on the outlook, culture and ideology of Western society became more and more visible. Jews control over 50 percent of the stocks in the entire economy and business activity of Western civilization...The Messianic claims of Jews are rooted deeper and deeper and are expressed sharper and sharper." -Russian-American Bureau on Human Rights (UCSJ), February 28, 1996

Vladimir Bondarenko, deputy editor of Zaftra, (Tomorrow), an extreme nationalist, antisemitic newspaper, talks to Zyuganov every few days and accompanied him on campaign jaunts. Yuri Belov, who sits on the 19-member presidium of Gennady Zyuganov's Communist Party, says "under the present regime we have occupation not from the outside but from the inside. [The government is] destroying and co-opting our national way of life...the state must be saved." He believes that Jews who supported Gorbachev expedited the collapse of Soviet power and that Jews who control the Russian mass media are waging an anti-communist campaign which could cause a backlash and could "plant the seeds of antisemitism that may be difficult to control."-Washington Post 5/20/96

Vladimir Zhirinovsky wrote a letter to Patrick Buchanan during the 1996 U.S. Republican primaries, suggesting the deportation of "this small but troublesome" tribe of Jews to designated areas in the U. S. and Russia. National Conference on Soviet Jewry 1996 Report: Inside the Soviet Union

"Zhirinovsky Discusses the Jews and the Turkish Threat" in Izvestia, August 10, 1996-"I have criticized the West many times. I have criticized Zionism for its intention to control everything, the financing system and the media in particular. However, we have to be up to date modern people. While "patriots" were using all their power to fight the Zionist-mason treaty, while they were studying who visits what mason organization, the Turkish threat was totally missed.

"Russian and Ukrainian leaders have to understand: if we can't reach any agreement between us now, tomorrow the Turks will be all over the place! Stalin trusted Hitler before the war, and didn't trust England, while Hitler kept the troops near Russian borders, but there was not a single English platoon there. The same with our "patriots": they keep talking about "Jewish issues" whereas, we, in a larger scale, do not care about Jerusalem and what will happen to it, but do care about the Crimea! The Turks are keeping a huge army near our borders, whereas you can't see a single soldier from Israel there."-Russian-American Bureau on Human Rights (UCSJ), August 10, 1996

On February 10, 1996, Vladimir Zhirinovsky met with France's extreme rightist Jean Marie Le Pen in Moscow and announced plans to link Europe's far right. Le Pen, leader of France's National Front, said, "We think our meeting will mark the start of cooperation among European patriots to fight for the defense of our national values." When Zhirinovsky was asked how he and Le Pen would react if their countries went to war, he said "We will send in the Chechens. France will send her African Negroes...We'll phone each other to total up how many Chechens and Negroes have been killed." -Washington Post, February 11, 1996

Vladimir Zhirinovsky publicly claimed that "The worldwide forces of evil and the Zionists" aim to destroy Russia, and that the Israeli Mossad and American espionage services are involved in the Chechen conflict.-Russian American Bureau on Human Rights (UCSJ), February 28, 1996

The Russian press reported that in January 1995, Vladimir Zhirinovsky publicly said that "the worldwide forces of evil and the Zionists" were "intent on destroying Russia." -Antisemitism World Report 1996, Institute for Jewish Policy Research and American Jewish Committee

Aleksandr Lebed, former Security Council Secretary, told an audience of supporters in late June 1996 as he campaigned for Yeltsin, that Western religious sects represent "a direct threat to Russia's security...We have established traditional religions-Russian Orthodoxy, Islam and Buddhism, " Lebed said, which should be allowed to develop and flourish. It is unclear whether he purposefully or mistakenly omitted Judaism. Lebed later apologized, asserting that his statement was taken out of context and that he believes Jews are important in Russia. On another occasion, he reportedly called for ridding Russia of "cults" such as the Mormon Church and chided a supporter for "speaking like a Jew." --Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, June 28, 1996

The July 1996 elections contained relatively low levels of antisemitic rhetoric, compared to the 1995 elections, when both Zyuganov and Zhirinovsky littered their campaign rhetoric with antisemitic comments.

In December 1995, when Parliamentary elections were held, the Communist party, led by Gennady Zyuganov, won in what has been seen by observers as a protest vote against the declining standard of living, growing crime and corruption, and a perceived failure of Yeltsin's reforms, winning 35 percent of the vote.

Russia's Jews, in the face of Zyuganov taking the lead at different times in the presidential campaign, expressed worry about what the future would hold for them if he won. "I cannot trust the Communists, and if they regain power I won't stay in Russia, " said Erna Shiller, a retired engineer. "If the policy of state supported antisemitism is resumed, I will leave Russia immediately," said Marat Gelman, owner of a Moscow gallery. "In the 1991 presidential elections I voted for Yeltsin just because I liked him. Today I will do so because I'm in fear of physical destruction," said Susanna Turayeva, a leading figure in the Jewish community in Nizhny Novgorod. Many Jewish businessmen, who have recently become prominent in Russia's business community, worry that a Communist regime would abruptly end Russia's painful and slow struggle toward a free-market economy. "Nationalism might become a reality in this country," said Mark Weinstein, chairman of the board of Russo Bank. "We have not entered that far yet into a market economy, so Russia could be turned back to a state administered economy relatively easily."-Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 18, 1996

In the past, Gennady Zyuganov had opposed Gorbachev and the reforms that eased Jewish emigration. He was also a leading figure in the development of Russia's National Salvation Front, which used classic antisemitic threats such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion to attack Jews.

Zhirinovsky leads the third largest bloc in the Russian Parliament. In the December 17, 1995 elections, Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party of Russia was one of only four parties to surpass the 5 percent threshold needed to gain a share of the 225 parliamentary seats. Zhirinovsky's party took third place with 11.2 percent of the vote and 51 seats just behind the largest Russian Communist Party. The Centrist Party of Victor Chernomyrdin, "Our Home is Russia," won second place with 12% of the vote. Though Zhirinovsky has since lost some of his support due to his outrageous rhetoric, many come to his rallies just to hear his remarks, and his platform appeals to generally poorly educated voters. Since the June 1996 elections he has tried to rebuild his image into something allegedly kinder and gentler.

The following are selected excerpts about the Russian elections:

"We will vote for Whom? Moscow Nationalism" Argumenti I Fakty #46 (124) Nov. 1995-"More than 70 percent of the voters consider a deputy from their district should be ethnically Russian. And consider that the Russophiles are two times more populous on the outskirts of Moscow than in Moscow proper. The nationalist orientation depends directly on the education: the higher the educational level of the respondents, the more indifferent to the ethnicity of the deputy. Forty-two percent of the voters are categorically against Jews as deputies and 66 percent are against people from the Caucasus as deputies.- Institute of Sociology led by Olga Kryshtanovskaya and Alexander Kryshtanovskyi

Simon Klarfeld, former Director of the Bay Area Council for Jewish Rescue and Renewal said: "With soaring inflation, the rise of the Russian Mafia and mob rule and a crumbling welfare infrastructure, it is not surprising that Russians are wary of continuing Yeltsin's reforms.... Antisemitism and racism of the nationalists is well-known and widespread... What has Yeltsin done to assuage the very real fears of Russia's Jewish community? Profound silence and inaction...Human rights observers fear a return to various state restrictions-on freedoms such as limitations on emigration-should Yeltsin kowtow to the nationalists. Just weeks ago, a new law on state secrecy was introduced, making it easy, once again, for a spiteful bureaucrat to deny exit visas to Jews in positions of responsibility." The Jewish Bulletin of Northern California, June 21, 1996

The following are selected incidents of attacks on Jewish communal property:

On August 22, 1996, a bomb shattered the windows and tore off sections of the roof of a Moscow synagogue in the Marina Rosha section of the city. No injuries were reported. The brick synagogue had just reopened in June, replacing a wooden building that burned down in 1993 as a result of arson. Berel Lazar, rabbi at the Lubavitch synagogue and the chairman of the Rabbinical Alliance of the Commonwealth of Independent States called the bombing "clearly an antisemitic act." The explosion occurred the day after construction began on a new Jewish community center to be built next to the synagogue, the biggest project of its kind to be undertaken in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.-Jewish Telegraphic Agency, August 26, 1996

In Astrakhan, a synagogue building dating back to 1872 was burned down by unknown individuals-Israeli Consulate Bulletin, September/October 1996

A Jewish community center in Yaroslavl was seriously damaged by a bomb blast on April 19, 1996. More than two pounds of TNT was used in the bomb that caused the explosion. The Yaroslavl center also houses local organizations that serve the needs of Jews in the city. The attack came a day after the Israeliarmy shelled a U. N. base in southern Lebanon, where 75 refugees were killed. Some Russian media reports suggested the bombing could also have been inspired by the birthday of Adolph Hitler, which falls on April 20 and has been marked in the past by acts of violence by Russian neo-Nazis.

One elderly Yaroslavl Jewish man, Yosef Yakovleivich, said "a lot of people say this has always been a very happy city for Jews....But now antisemitism is growing because of poor political and economic conditions...I have a good apartment and now some of my Russian neighbors begin to give me funny looks."- Jewish Telegraphic Agency, April 22, 1996

Finally, on January 31, 1997 Alexandr Sypin, a 29 year old unemployed man, was sentenced to three years in prison for the Yaroslavl bombing, which caused $40,000 in damages. Sypin was convicted of damaging property and illegal possession of weapons. He was a member of Derzhava (Power) a small Yaroslavl-based group of ultra-nationalist youths. Sypin was a member of Pamyat in the 1980s, when it was the largest ultra-nationalist, antisemitic organization.-Jewish Telegraphic Agency, January 31, 1997

In February 1996 vandals in Moscow set fire to a school bus of the Yeshiva of the Lubavitch Hasidic sect located in the former Marina Rosha synagogue, which had been destroyed by a fire in December 1993. On five separate occasions in the three months previous to the burning the Yeshiva had its windows broken, and Yeshiva students had reportedly been physically harassed by neighbors.-Antisemitism World Report 1996, Institute for Jewish Policy Research and American Jewish Committee

On May 29, 1996, a bus belonging to Moscow Jewish elementary school Gan Chama was set on fire and anti-Jewish graffiti painted on it.-Antisemitism World Report 1996, Institute for Jewish Policy Research and American Jewish Committee

On July 26, 1995, 20 bullet holes were found in the walls of a synagogue in Rostov on Don.- Antisemitism World Report 1996, Institute for Jewish Policy Research and American Jewish Committee

Several days before the June 1996 presidential elections, swastikas, hangman's nooses with Stars of David, and the words "Zhids, you will die in January!" were spray-painted on the walls of Moscow's main Choral Synagogue.-Israeli Consulate Bulletin June 1996

In Magnitorsk in May 1995, complaints were made of antisemitic notes on the walls of buildings and letters in the city newspaper- Gennadii Shmulevich Rubin in May 1995 report from the Russian-American Bureau on Human Rights (UCSJ)

In Orsk in May 1995, complaints were made of antisemitic graffiti, the selling of antisemitic literature, and gatherings of the extremist, antisemitic group the Black Hundreds-Vadim Igorevich in May 1995 report from Russian-American Bureau on Human Rights (UCSJ)

The following are selected examples of desecration of Jewish cemeteries, thefts and other crimes:

On January 16, 1996, over 60 tombstones were destroyed in the only Jewish cemetery in St. Petersburg.-Bay Area Council for Jewish Rescue and Renewal

In September 1996, the old Jewish cemetery in Velikiye Luki was attacked and vandalized by unknown people. No investigation was made by the police despite a request from the Jewish community. "The wind did it," a police officer said.-Alexander Shneidman, November 22, 1996

In May 1995, 26 tombstones were desecrated in the Jewish cemetery in Tambov-Antisemitism World Report 1996, Institute for Jewish Policy Research and the American Jewish Committee

In July 1995 and then October 22, 1995, several tombstones in the Jewish section of a cemetery in Nizhny-Novgorod were desecrated.-Antisemitism World Report 1996, Institute for Jewish Policy Research and the American Jewish Committee

In November 1995, 22 gravestones were defaced in Rybinsk; some had been shot and some were sprayed with anti-Jewish graffiti.-Antisemitism World Report 1996, Institute for Jewish Policy Research and the American Jewish Committee

In January 1995 attacks were made on the cemetery in Makhachkala, Dagestan, and on February 12, 1995 a bomb was placed in the city of Buinakske-Roman Isaaevich Isaev in May 1995 report from Russian-American Bureau on Human Rights (UCSJ)

On May 10, 1995, five Torah scrolls were stolen from a synagogue in St. Petersburg. The thieves broke through a window and broke the lock on the ark where the Torahs are kept.-Jewish Telegraphic Agency, May 11, 1995

Robbers broke into the "Jewish Gymnasia" school in St. Petersburg during the night of September 2-3, 1996. They beat and bound the guard, and with the aid of a large truck, stole cash and equipment valued at $20,000. The guard required hospitalization. -Jewish Telegraphic Agency, September 4, 1996

In the beginning of April 1996, a Jewish cultural center in Smolensk was robbed and vandalized. The robbers painted a swastika and a Star of David, along with the words "beat the kikes" on the front door. The Smolensk center had opened just a month before the incident.-Washington Jewish Week May 2, 1996

The Jewish community in Dagestan, located on the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region of Southern Russia, has been leaving the area in droves, mainly due to constant crimes committed against Jews. "There is virtually no Jewish family in town that has not been robbed during the last four years," says Ovadis Yakubov, a high-ranking Dagestani government official from Makhachkala. Armed robbers held up Yakubov's family last winter. Crime rose dramatically after the fall of the Soviet Union, and criminals often target Jews because of the popular belief that they are richer than the general population. --Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 3, 1997
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