The individuals responsible for the offense arrived at the gravesite complex of Rabbi Nachman—the influential 18th century Hassidic leader who preached mystical teachings of Judaism—and screamed anti-Semitic slurs before hurling a pig’s head, atop which a swastika had been etched, into the room containing worshippers.
The incident took place in the large building in the tomb compound at around 2am when a pack of skinheads entered and began shouting racist remarks in Russian at the Jewish worshippers, who managed to capture the harrowing images on their cellphone cameras.
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at office@jewishbusinessnews.com.
Thank you.
“It was so scary, ” said one of the workers at the site. “We have already suffered anti-Semitic incidents but this time it crossed the line and we are all still in shock. We began cleaning the place. As far as I know, no one involved has been arrested.”
In an interview with Ynet, the manager of the compound, Rabbi Elhadad, recalled the details of the chilling incident. “A group of Nazis came to the place. One of them entered and scoured the place. We thought maybe he wants to pray because sometimes foreigners also come and pray there, ” he said. “After about a minute, two of them came in with bottles of paint and started spraying the worshippers with tear gas.”
Oleg Vyshniakov, Israel’s honorary consul in West Ukraine, said: “I am startled by the barbarian attack at the Reb Nachman of Breslov’s Synagogue.”
“I hope the Israelis will understand that this attack was done as a provocative act and does not reflect the Ukrainian attitude towards Israel and Israelis in the least. The Ukrainian people are very grateful for this support and true friendship”.
By Ynet News
