Fire Destroys Most of Synagogue and Jewish Cultural Center

July 27, 2004

Source: The Weekend Australian/AAP

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10269547%255E1702,00.html

On July 27, 2004 the Australian Associated Press reported, "Fire gutted a building housing a synagogue and Jewish cultural centre in the Siberian city of Irkutsk late tonight, Russian media reported. Authorities were trying to determine whether arson was the cause. Nobody was injured in the blaze, but the flames destroyed much of the 19th century building in the city 4200km east of Moscow, which was rented by the Jewish organisation Khesed Khai, reports said. The building's first floor was almost completely engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived, and state-run Rossiya television broadcast footage of the roof collapsing into what appeared to be a synagogue hall. Arson was among the possible causes being investigated, Rossiya reported. Vandalism of synagogues and Jewish cemeteries is fairly common in Russia, and human rights groups have questioned the government's dedication to fighting ethnic discrimination and violence. The synagogue in another Siberian city, Krasnoyarsk, was defaced last year by vandals who painted swastikas and anti-Semitic graffiti and the initials of an ultranationalist group on a wall."