Anti-Semitic flyer handed to Jews in Ukraine was a fake aimed at stirring up trouble and discrediting pro-Russians, says Rabbi



Leaflet in Donetsk, Ukraine, ordered Jews to register or face deportation

Flyer condemned by US as 'grotesque' and 'beyond unacceptable'

Pro-Russian forces deny responsibility for leaflet, handed to Jews outside synagogue

Local rabbi now claims handout is a fake aimed at heightening tensions



A flyer ordering Jews in eastern Ukraine to register with pro-Russian forces or face deportation has been branded a fake by religious leaders, including the area's rabbi.



Pamphlets circulating in Donetsk demanded 'citizens of Jewish nationality' over the age of 16 pay $50 to register and be issued special passports 'marking the confession of faith'.



But the flyer, described as 'grotesque' by US Secretary of State John Kerry, has now been classed by the leader of the city's Jewish community as a hoax , aimed at stirring up trouble.



The leaflet distributed in Donetsk, Ukraine, calling for all Jews over 16-years-old to register or face deportation, sparked concern among the area's 15,000-strong Jewish community. Now many are looking at fleeing Ukraine for Israel

A pro-Russian activist stands guard in front of the Donetsk Regional Administration building in Donetsk this week. The Donetsk People's Republic has denied responsibility for an anti-Semitic flyer circulating in the city while the local rabbi has branded it a fake

The handouts, a chilling echo of Nazi persecution, were given to Jews leaving a local synagogue by three men in ski masks holding the flag of the Russian Federation, Israeli media reports.



Jews living in the area of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, were ordered to register at a government building operated by pro-Russian forces or face the threat of deportation.



But according to The Guardian, the city's chief rabbi, Pinchas Vishedski, told reporters: 'I think it's someone trying to use the Jewish community in Donetsk as an instrument in this conflict. That's why we're upset.'



The Donetsk People's Republic, under the leadership of Denis Pushilin, has already denied any involvement in the anti-semitic handout.

In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, he said: ‘I strongly deny that this document on registering Jewish people is genuine.



‘I have never written and signed anything like this, nor orders on food coupons, nor taxes for businessmen nor registration for foreign students, all of which have been reported.

US Secretary of State John Kerry branded the leaflet 'grotesque' while he was in Geneva as part of peace talks. But the handout may have been a fake aimed at stirring up trouble in the region

Pro-Russian armed soldiers on a tank in eastern Ukraine where a flyer ordering Jews to register has added to tensions

‘Those documents are aimed to discredit our people's republic. They are fakes.’

Of the order about Jew's being forced to register, or lose their rights to property, he insisted: ‘Look at this document. I have never called myself the people's governor, my job is different.



‘The stamp is bigger than it should be because it was Photoshopped from some real document.



‘I am personally strongly against any declarations of this sort made against Jewish or any other people. This is a dirty trick by our foes.’



Despite the denials, the episode has added to tensions at a time when pro-Russian and pro-Ukranian protests have already ended in violence.

A number of prominent Ukrainian Jews came out in support of the pro-European demonstrations in the capital Kiev but they have not officially endorsed the movement.

THE 'LONG AND UNFORTUNATE' HISTORY OF RUSSIA AND ANTI-SEMITISM

Russia has a long and unfortunate history of the persecution of the Jewish people.

In the late 18th century, Catherine the Great created the Pale of Settlement, which dictated where in Imperial Russia Jews were allowed to reside, an area of about 20 per cent of then-European Russia which today is part of Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldova and, notably, Ukraine.

Tsarist Russia also saw a wave of anti-Jewish riots, known as pogroms, which took off with the violent persecution in Odessa in 1821, now the third largest city in Ukraine, which had one of the highest percentages of Jewish population in the Pale of Settlement.

Decades of pogroms followed, with a peak between 1881 to 1884 when more than 200 anti-Jewish events occurred in the Russian Empire, notably in Kiev, Warsaw and Odessa.

The trigger was the assassination of Russia's Tsar Alexandr II, for which many blamed 'The Jews'.

Between 1903 and 1906 thousands of Jews were killed in pogroms, including the 1905 pogrom of Odessa which saw up to 2,500 Jewish men, women and children killed, according to historic reports.

The pogroms, harsh conditions and wide-spread poverty in the Pale of Settlement saw some two million Jews emigrate, mainly to the U.S. in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

During the Soviet era, the Soviet Union and countries within its sphere of influence were accused of persecuting Jews.

Josef Stalin was said by numerous sources to despise Jews and under Brezhnev, Jews faced discrimination.

'Perhaps you got Ukraine confused with Russia, where Jewish organizations have noticed growth in anti-Semitic tendencies last year.'

The leaflet says all people of Jewish descent over 16 should report to the Commissioner for Nationalities in the Donetsk Regional Administration building and 'register.'

It goes on to explain that the reason for this is that leaders of the Jewish community of Ukraine supported Bendery Junta in reference to the leader of a nationalist group fighting for independence at the end of the Second World War.



The letter features the flag of the so-called Donetsk Republic, a self-proclaimed state declared earlier this month by several hundred activists who occupied the Regional Administration Building and the City Hall buildings in the city.