Outrage after senior police officer asks for list of all Jews in Ukrainian city

‘It’s a total disgrace and open antisemitism,’ says director of Jewish group

A rabbi prays in front of the Minorah monument in Kiev, Ukraine. (Getty Images)

A Jewish organisation in Ukraine has accused the country’s police of “open antisemitism” after it emerged a high-ranking police official requested a list of all Jews in the western city of Kolomyya.

The request was reportedly made to the head of Kolomyya’s Jewish community, Jacob Zalichker, on 18 February.

Eduard Dolinsky, director of the Ukrainian Jewish Comittee in Kiev, tweeted a photograph of the document on Sunday. He said: “Ukraine’s National Police department demanded from the Jewish community of Kolommya to provide police the list of all Jews with addresses and mobile phones and Jewish students in universities with addresses and phones.

“It is explained as fight against transnational crimes.”

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), the letter reads: “Please provide us with the following information regarding the Orthodox Jewish religious community of Kolommya, namely: The organisation’s charter; list of members of the Jewish religious community, with indication of data, mobile phones and their places of residence.”

The document was signed by Myhaylo Bank, a top police officer in the national police force whose unit deals with organised crime.

On 25 February, Mr Zalichker reportedly declined to provide the requested information and said he would only comply when presented with a court-ordered warrant.

Mr Dolinsky told JTA: “It’s a total disgrace and open antisemitism. It’s especially dangerous when it comes from a law enforcement agency that we have to fight the very thing it is perpetrating.”

Joel Lion, Israeli ambassador to Israel, said he was made aware of the document and brought it to the attention of the president of Ukraine, as well as Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He said: “I received phone calls from the highest officials of Ukraine strongly condemning this act of anti-semitism. We will work together to better educate police about anti-semitism.”

Mr Dolinsky later tweeted the National Police of Ukraine had launched an investigation into why the police department had asked for the list

During the Second World War, over a million Jews were killed by Nazi forces when they occupied the former Soviet state.

Ukraine’s first Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was elected last year.