Russian Civil Court Rules Against Stating Holocaust Victims Were Jewish

A petition to gain official recognition that the victims of a Holocaust atrocity near Rostov-on-Don were Jewish has been rejected by a Russian civil court, according to 161.ru, a Russian news site. The city's Zmievskaya Balka mass grave now solely mentions that the event that occurred was a "mass killing by the fascists of captured Soviet citizens," leaving out their Jewish identity. A plaque from 2004 that mentioned the Holocaust has previously been removed, which the Russian Jewish Congress petitioned about last year.

The RJC's deputy executive director told news source JTA that the city officials believe mentioning the Holocaust could lead to "ethnic unrest."

UCSJ has previously reported similar actions occurring in Ukraine.