Fliers ordering Jews to ‘register’ in Ukraine a hoax

Anti-Semitic fliers ordering Jews in Donetsk, Ukraine, to “register” with authorities were an elaborate hoax, the region’s chief rabbi said Friday.

The Nazi-era-style leaflets — which instructed Jews to register as pro-Russia separatists and declare all property — were likely used as a tool get the international community involved in the battle between Russia and Ukraine, the rabbi told The Guardian.

“I think someone is trying to use the Jewish community in Donetsk as an instrument in this conflict,” said Rabbi Pinchas Vishedski. “That’s why we’re upset.”

On Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry denounced the fliers as “grotesque” and the story of their distribution quickly spread, deeply disturbing Jews in the region and all over the world.

A pro-Russia separatist walks past a map on a regional government building in Donetsk.Reuters
Ukrainian presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko meets pro-Ukrainian self-defense volunteers in Donetsk.Reuters

In response, Denis Pushilin — the pro-Russia separatist linked to the fliers — called them a “complete lie” and a deliberate “provocation,” Fox News reported Friday.

“This provocation has been done unprofessionally — first of all, [the flier] is signed as ‘people’s governor Denis Pushilin,’ and I never referred to myself as such and nobody called me like that first,” said Pushilin, chairman of Donetsk’s “temporary” government.

“Secondly, the stamp that is there, it is bigger in size, meaning simply it has been done in a Photoshop. And third, if you read the text, you will see that it’s relatively badly written.”

Pushilin claimed that pro-Ukrainian groups were circulating the leaflets to outrage Jewish people and get other countries involved in the conflict in Donetsk, where militants have taken over government buildings in a bid to bring control of the city under Russian rule.

The fliers noted that because Jewish community leaders supported a Ukrainian nationalist movement, “that all citizens of Jewish descent, over 16 years of age and residing within the republic’s territory are required to report to the Commissioner for Nationalities in the Donetsk Regional Administration building and register,” Israel’s Ynet News reported.

There are about 15,000 Jews in Donetsk.