Russian-Speaking Jewry and the Fight Against Antisemitism

Thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union have seen a radical transformation of the relationship between Jewish communities and post-Soviet societies. This is marked by a fundamental shift in the status and role of Jewish organizations within the political, economic, professional, media, and other structures of their respective countries.

Concurrently, the post-Soviet space is witnessing the consolidation of an organized Jewish movement, supported by an extensive network of communal structures and institutions. It is important to note that the international standing of Russian-speaking Jewry has undergone a significant shift in recent years. We have transitioned from the periphery to a central position within the Jewish world, a development that is also highly visible in Israel.

A milestone of these changes was the establishment of the Euro-Asian Delegation in 1991, followed by the creation of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress in 2001. This body has served as a new framework for uniting the organized Jewish communal structures of post-Soviet states, Eastern Europe, and Asia, becoming a center of political and organizational gravity for peripheral Jewish communities across the continent. Crucially, the EAJC has turned into an essential channel of engagement with the vast Russian-Jewish diaspora, which currently spans 52 countries across five continents.

Significant and complex developments in the Euro-Asian region require rigorous and thorough analysis. For this reason, we established the Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies. Operating as a research hub, the Institute provides academic grounding for ongoing collective efforts to strengthen Jewish communities, advance Jewish education, and counter xenophobia globally. Additionally, the Yad Vashem International Institute for Holocaust Research in Jerusalem has successfully operated the Center for Research on the History of the Holocaust in the Soviet Union for several years.

Notably, countries of the former Soviet Union have experienced a substantial decrease in reported incidents of physical antisemitism. However, researchers continue to document antisemitic theories and stereotypes connected to the history of the Holocaust, which persist in drawing public attention.

We observe efforts to rehabilitate Nazi collaborators, whom certain political forces now seek to portray as national heroes and uncompromising freedom fighters. While this trend was previously characteristic of Western Europe, in recent years, these myths have actively spread across countries in the post-Soviet space. The risks of this outlook to preserving the memory of the Second World War are evident, particularly as new media and social networks give these theories a new lease on life and enable their mass dissemination.

The international community has condemned the denial and distortion of the Holocaust. On October 3, 2019, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that denying the persecution and mass extermination of the Jewish population under the Nazi regime is not protected under the right to freedom of expression.

We recognize the gravity of antisemitism in the contemporary world and understand that it manifests differently across eras. In the Middle Ages, Jews faced religious persecution. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, antisemitism assumed national and ethnic dimensions. Today, hostility toward Jews is predominantly expressed as anti-Israel sentiment, with various actors seeking to combine these anti-Jewish theories. Since 2009, UNESCO has adopted more than 70 resolutions condemning Israel, while the four United Nations World Conferences Against Racism, starting with the 2001 Durban Conference, served as prominent platforms for an ideological campaign against Israel and, consequently, its supporters worldwide. At the time, leaders of international Jewish organizations, Israeli politicians, and diplomats could not have foreseen that radical anti-Israel sentiment would evolve into overt antisemitism, yet today this is a reality.

We are aware that the hatred directed at Jews never stops with them; rather, it poisons the broader civic and social climate. The danger that antisemitism poses to humanity is clear to many, which is why our efforts to preserve historical memory—including that of the Second World War—remain universal in their scope.

Alongside acknowledging these challenges and safeguarding historical memory, we deem it essential to express our gratitude to all public and political leaders in the Euro-Asian region for their unequivocal condemnation of antisemitism. Such declarations are routinely heard in countries with the largest Jewish populations, including Russia and Ukraine, where on October 6, solemn ceremonies were held to commemorate the victims of the mass killings at Babyn Yar. Furthermore, in September 2021, the Ukrainian Parliament passed the law "On Preventing and Combating Antisemitism in Ukraine." We honor the past and trust that no geopolitical complexities will compromise the unwavering fight against antisemitism.