Belarus – Antisemitic Warning letter sent to Jewish Community

On 24^th May 2006, the General Prosecutor of the city of
Mahilyou (formerly

Mogilev) sent a letter of warning to a Jewish entertainment group concerning the breach of a law restricting religious ceremonies. The warning came following a Purim party held by the Jewish community in a government-own building. The letter included quotes from antisemitic sources written by a priest who belongs to the radical wing of the Russian Orthodox Church. The party had been held in the government-owned facility because the community has no place of its own to hold parties, since all its property had been appropriated during the Soviet era and the Belarusian authorities are in no rush to return it.