By Ben Cohen
Russian military actions in Ukraine amount to war crimes and both Ukrainians and Jews have “fallen victim to the same tragedy,” one of Ukraine’s leading rabbis declared on Friday.
In an extensive interview with the Ukrainian-language section of German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Chief Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman spoke candidly about both the nature of the war, along with the need for Jews in Russia to overcome their fear and speak out against it.
Calling for prayers and protests on behalf of Ukraine, Azman then issued a direct appeal to the Jewish community in Russia.
Russian authorities have treated anti-war demonstrations harshly, with more than 13,000 protestors already detained around the country.
Recalling that he had been born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in the USSR, Azman said that he had been arrested and interrogated by the KGB, urging Russian Jews to follow his example. “I was taken to the KGB for interrogation for my activities,” he said. “I was not afraid … that is why, even now, everyone has to decide, good or evil, whether he is an accomplice to crimes.”
Azman said he had received several phone calls from Russian Jews. “I reminded them that they can’t just sit at the TV and smile, that they will have to take responsibility for what happens with their consent, tacit or otherwise,” he said. “Both Jews and Russians called me from Russia. Some said they had their eyes opened, some said they already knew what was going on, but were afraid to say anything about it.”
Azman emphasized that the Jewish community in Ukraine was fully behind the war effort. “We have established a call center that receives calls from people in need, and organizes buses to transport people to Israel and Europe, to safe places,” he said.
Jews were also fighting in the Ukrainian armed forces. “Jewish men who are conscripts feel the need to defend Ukraine, to go to war in the armed forces, or in territorial defense,” Azman said.
Addressing the Russian propaganda depiction of Ukrainian leaders as “neo-Nazis,” Azman sarcastically asked: “To whom are they going to apply ‘denazification’? To the Jewish president [Volodymyr Zelensky]? Or to the head of the opposition [Vadym] Rabinovich?”
As Russia widened its assault on Friday, with the city of Dnipro hit by air strikes and missiles for the first time since the invasion, Azman highlighted the terrible human cost being exacted, particularly on the most vulnerable.
“There are many elderly people who cannot move on their own,” he said. “Among them are those who miraculously escaped the Holocaust during World War II, who were forced to evacuate from Luhansk and other Donbass cities for the third and even fourth time in their lives.”
Added Azman: “They are shocked that the Russian army, which once defeated the Nazis, is now beating them.”
(c) The Algemeiner Journal
I would recommend this “Rabbi” should stick to what he does all year kiruv and social services and not agitate in a matter that he has zero qualifications, He could endanger Jews of Russia by being irresponsible.
There are multiple chief Rabbis there, this guy is not the chief.
This man will have the blood on his hands of any Jews who react improperly as a result. He will also be responsible for any deterioration in relationship between the Russian ruling authorities and the Jews under their control.
Meshuganeh
Auch mir a Rabbi. A lying one. Afraid of telling the truth that the Ukrainians are murdering their people, not the Russians.
That’s okay. If it makes you happy, you can censor my comment. Someone so ignorant as you, who knows nothing of our history, is not worth educating. Why waste time with a shoyta?