Faced with possible investigation, Russian governor apologizes to Jews

MOSCOW, Feb. 15 (JTA) — Faced with a possible investigation by federal officials, the governor of Russia’s southern Krasnodar region has publicly apologized to the region’s Jews for his repeated anti-Semitic remarks. In a televised address, Nikolai Kondratenko told the region’s Jews that he was their “relative” and that he regretted if they had misunderstood any of his previous statements. But at the same time, apparently unable to back off completely from earlier stances, Kondratenko reiterated his opposition to Zionism, stating that he still considers it a threat to his region’s stability. During the years of Soviet rule, authorities often drew the same distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. Kondratenko has gained notoriety across Russia for regularly peppering his speeches with attacks on Zionists and “Judeo-Masons,” whom he blames for all of Russia’s troubles. His decision to reach out to the region’s Jews did not appear to stem from entirely selfless motives: His televised appearance came in the wake of reports that Russian prosecutors are considering whether to investigate his earlier anti-Semitic comments. It also came after officials with President Boris Yeltsin’s administration dispatched representatives to several Russian regions, including Krasnodar, to monitor whether local authorities are following Yeltsin’s directive to combat political extremism and ethnic intolerance. While Kondratenko’s televised address may not have been all they had hoped for, leaders of Krasnodar’s Jewish community say it had at least one beneficial effect on the community. They report that regional officials have given the community a small building for use as a synagogue. Krasnodar’s old synagogue was confiscated during the Stalinist era and is now in a dilapidated condition. Over the weekend, 300 Krasnodar Jews gathered to celebrate the Bar and Bat Mitzvahs of 18 youths in what was the first such ceremony in this largely agricultural area since World War II. Zinovy Kogan, the executive director of the Moscow-based Congress of Jewish Religious Communities and Organizations in Russia, told JTA that a group of neo-Nazis held their weekly gathering in a central square adjacent to the building where the Jewish celebration was taking place. But the neo-Nazi gathering was not related to the celebration, he said, adding that the convergence of the two sharply contrasting events was characteristic of Krasnodar and other Russian provincial centers. “Local Jews say they have long gotten used to seeing these gatherings,” Kogan said.