A leading Russian Jewish group condemned an attack on a Russian synagogue. On April 20, a group of young men suspected of being members of a local neo-Nazi skinhead gang attempted to break into a synagogue in Orenburg, about 800 miles southeast of Moscow, the Federation of Jewish Communities reported this week. The group broke windows, shouted anti-Semitic slogans and painted swastikas on the building, but no one was hurt, according to a spokesman for the federation. Police have opened a criminal investigation, and at least one of the attackers, a 15-year-old, has been detained. Local Jews in Orenburg, however, indicated that police may treat the case as an act of hooliganism and not a hate crime, which carries a stiffer penalty under Russian law. Last month, a man was sentenced to 13 years in prison for stabbing worshippers at a Moscow shul in January, injuring nine.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
