VZCZCXRO5436
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBW RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHVL #0267 1140904
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 230904Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY VILNIUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2199
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 0274
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0018

UNCLAS VILNIUS 000267 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AMEMBASSY MINSK SENDS 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KNAR PHUM PGOV BO
SUBJECT: REMAINS FROM JEWISH CEMETERY TO BE RELOCATED 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Charge visited Gomel April 22 to view the site of a former 
Jewish cemetery which has been excavated as part of a construction 
project and has received extensive coverage in the international 
media.  In a step which post believes does not conform with 
traditional religious requirements, the local authorities -- with 
the tacit approval of the Jewish community -- are removing all of 
the remains and have identified a different Jewish cemetery at which 
the remains will be reinterred.  End summary. 
 
Soviet Stadium on Site Being Replaced 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Charge was met at the cemetery site by Gomel Deputy Mayor 
Sergey Poroshin, Deputy Chairperson of Gomel Executive Committee, 
Head of the Secular Jewish Community Oleg Krasniy, and Chairman of 
the Jewish Religious Community Yosef Zholudev.  Poroshin explained 
that human remains and gravestones had been discovered during the 
reconstruction of a stadium which had opened in 1961 and been 
recently demolished.  According to him, Gomel authorities did not 
know about the fact that there used to be a cemetery, and only 
determined that after the first bones were unearthed.  The Deputy 
Mayor vehemently denied media reports that dogs were carrying off 
bones and that remains were being discarded by construction 
workers. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The representatives of the Jewish community present also 
said that nobody knew about the cemetery as it was probably 
destroyed during numerous occupations in two World Wars; it was 
noted to Charge that there was no evidence that anyone was buried at 
the cemetery less than 80 years ago.  (Comment: This explanation is 
somewhat plausible.  It is likely that most of the damage to the 
cemetery occurred during the Soviet era or during the Nazi 
occupation when the vast majority of Gomel's 50,000 estimated Jews 
were murdered.  End comment.) 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Two youth volunteers from the Jewish community were 
working to collect remains during Charge's visit.  In addition to 
human remains, two gravestones have been located, and are to be 
"returned" to the Jewish community; one was shown to Charge.  Local 
police are guarding the sire, which is not open to the public. 
 
Second Cemetery Chosen for Reburial 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In response to Charge's question, Zholudev disavowed 
direct responsibility for holding the reinternment ceremony, and 
said that he has invited foreign rabbis to come and take care of the 
ceremony instead.  The remains are to be reburied at the "Yuzhnoye" 
Jewish cemetery just outside Gomel. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Taken to the "Yuzhnoye" cemetery, Charge was introduced to 
a group of about 20 American university students mostly from New 
York, who have volunteered their spring breaks to help with various 
Jewish community projects in the Gomel area and were busy cleaning 
and restoring graves at that cemetery. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) At a time of great anti-U.S. hostility in Belarus, the 
hospitality of Gomel's Deputy Mayor (the municipality has faxed a 
letter to the Embassy saying that the Charge's visit would be 
"inexpedient") and his interaction with the Jewish community on this 
sensitive issue was pleasantly surprising.  It is clear that Gomel 
recognizes the initial mishandling of the remains -- perhaps a bit 
exaggerated in the press -- impacts upon the city's reputation. 
(Admittedly, the Deputy Mayor demurred on the question of a 
commemorative plaque on the stadium, saying that it would "distress" 
attendees to sporting events in the new facility.)  However, given 
the general expectation that Jewish cemeteries should be preserved 
intact, we are curious to see if any rabbi would choose to 
facilitate reinterment of the remains at a second site. 
 
MOORE 
CLOUD