U.S. officials Thursday denounced what one called a `` grotesque '' leaflet ordering Jews in one eastern Ukrainian city to register with a government office , but the Jewish community there dismissed it as a `` provocation . '' The fliers were handed out by masked men in front the main synagogue in Donetsk , where pro-Russian protesters have declared a `` People 's Republic , '' Jewish leaders there said . The document warned the city 's Jews to register and document their property or face deportation , according to a CNN translation of one of the leaflets . Geoffrey Pyatt , the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine , told CNN 's `` The Lead with Jake Tapper '' that a respected Jewish leader in Ukraine showed him a photograph of one of the leaflets . He called the document `` chilling . '' And in Geneva , where diplomats held emergency talks on the Ukrainian crisis , U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the leaflets `` grotesque '' and `` beyond unacceptable . '' But the Jewish community statement said relations between the Jews of Donetsk and their neighbors were amicable , and the self-proclaimed head of the `` People 's Republic , '' Denis Pushilin , denied any connection to the fliers . Pushilin told CNN the handwriting on the flier was n't his , and the title attached to his name was not one he uses . It was n't clear who had distributed the leaflets , but the chief rabbi of nearby Dnipropetrovsk said , `` Everything must be done to catch them . '' `` It 's important for everyone to know its not true , '' said the rabbi , Shmuel Kaminezki . `` The Jews of Donetsk will not do what the letter says . '' The reports come as Ukraine 's Western-backed interim government has been struggling to contain uprisings by pro-Russian political movements in several eastern cities , with both sides invoking the historical horror of Nazism in their disputes . Pyatt told CNN that radical groups may be trying to stir up historic fears or create a provocation to justify further violence . `` It 's chilling . I was disgusted by these leaflets , '' Pyatt said . `` Especially in Ukraine , a country that suffered so terribly under the Nazis , that was one of the sites of the worst violence of the Holocaust . To drag up this kind of rhetoric is almost beyond belief . '' The leaflets were handed out on Tuesday , during the Jewish holiday of Passover , the Jewish community statement said . They stated that registration was required because Jewish leaders had supported the `` nationalists and bandits '' in Kiev , where a popular revolt ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in February . `` All citizens of Jewish nationality over age of 16 , living on territories of Donetsk People 's Republic , have to register with DPR commissioner of nationality before May 3rd , 2014 at the Donetsk Regional Administration , room 514 , registration fee is $ 50 , '' read a photographed copy of the leaflet translated by CNN . `` Must have in person $ 50 cash , passport , all available IDs , and documentation of ownership of real estate and transportation . '' The men also hung posters with the same message , it said . `` Who is behind this is an open question , '' Rabbi Pinkhas Vishedski said in the statement . But he said the act was a provocation `` and should be treated accordingly ... full stop and end of topic . '' Provocation or not , the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League condemned their distribution and what it called their `` cynical and politically manipulative '' exploitation of anti-Semitism . `` We are skeptical about the flier 's authenticity , but the instructions clearly recall the Nazi era and have the effect of intimidating the local Jewish community , '' ADL Director Abraham Foxman said in a written statement . Pyatt said that in Kiev , where the Jewish community is a vital part of political life , there is `` no sympathy for this approach . '' `` It 's almost inconceivable that this kind of thing could be happening in the 21st century , '' Pyatt said . And Kerry said all parties at the Geneva talks unanimously condemned anti-Semitism and other forms of religious intolerance . `` Any of the people who engage in these kinds of activities -- from whatever party or whatever ideology or whatever place they crawl out of -- there is no place for that , '' he said .
`` It 's important for everyone to know its not true , '' Ukrainian rabbi says . Masked men handed out the fliers in front of a Donetsk synagogue , Jewish community says . Score: 6 The U.S. ambassador in Kiev calls the leaflets `` chilling '' and `` almost inconceivable ''