In a frightening development in the Ukraine it has been revealed that pro-Russian militia in the “Donetsk People’s Republic” have been handing out leaflets to all Jewish people over 16 years of age. The leaflets advise them that they should register all properties they own and their religion or face the loss of citizenship and deportation. There have been a number of alarming issues connected with the ongoing problems in the Ukraine but this is one which nobody saw coming and has been criticised in the strongest terms by the US and its allies.
Despite the fact that Russian, US and Ukrainian officials signed an agreement yesterday demanding the return of all Ukraine government buildings this has seemingly been ignored by the pro-Russian militia.
The forced registration of properties owned by all Jewish people in East Ukraine bears many similarities to the Nazi persecution of the Jews. This is a situation which is moving out of control by the hour and there are grave concerns that we could be moving towards WW3 unless the US and Russian authorities can come to some kind of mutual agreement for long-term peace.
While in the midst of all this trouble the ownership of properties is not necessarily a major issue on its own, because you would expect all illegal thefts to be corrected in the future, it is the targeting of the Jewish community which is most alarming. Even though the US government has been in talks with Russian counterparts about a peaceful solution, in many ways it is President Putin who holds all of the aces.
In just a matter of moments he could have the pro-Russian militia moving out of the Ukraine, ceasing their barbaric activities and looking for a long-term negotiated political settlement. For some reason, and we can only speculate why, he does not appear to be interested in this particular option at the moment.
There are many similarities today with the way in which the Jewish community was treated by the Nazis in years gone by. Many had hoped that the theft of property belonging to the Jewish community by an illegal occupying force was a thing of the past. If this situation in East Ukraine is allowed to continue we can only speculate about the next stage of this worrying development.
It is common knowledge that the Jewish community lost possessions, properties, lives and indeed their dignity when faced with the German forces. While we have seen “ethnic cleansing” in areas such as Yugoslavia in recent times many had hoped this type of conflict was a thing of the past. We can only hope for a political settlement in the short to medium term, that the situation in East Ukraine does not worsen for the Jewish community, as well as the wider population, and peace will eventually prevail.
Many people are speculating that the next step by the pro-Russian militia will be the forced “repatriations” of Jewish owned properties in East Ukraine. This would be a frightening development in a situation which seems to be going from bad to worse with little or no light at the end of the tunnel. What next?