The history of the region's population is Polish, Hungarian and Czech, and "relatively recently" they were living on the land that became Ukraine, Krichevsky said in a telephone interview from the ADL's national office in New York City's United National headquarters. Ukraine, therefore, has strong nationalist components, with Russians the largest minority. 

Western Ukraine was affected by the Holocaust more than other parts of the area, except for Kiev,  said Krichevsky, who was born in Moscow.  He has concluded that expressions of anti-Semitism "have to do with an overall growth of tension in society, and in the relations between minority groups." 

250,000."  Belarus has fewer: "between 80,000 and 100,000," he said. Ukraine estimates "range from 200,000 to 500,000." [That's out of Ukraine's total population of 48.72 million, according to the 2002 Olympic Committee.]

The press: Ukraine has "the largest number of anti-Semitic newspapers," ADL's Krichevsky said. These newspapers are found largely in Kiev and Lvov, the latter being "a smaller city with visible inter-faith and inter-ethnic tension."  [At one time, the street signs there were in four languages.] 

Desecrations and propaganda: "Anti-Semitism rarely takes violent forms," said Krichevsky. "Each year there are at least two or three synagogue desecrations, but the most common expression is in the publication of anti-Jewish propaganda and anti-Semitic articles in the right wing radical press."  The good news is that the annual total is actually declining. The Institute for Jewish Studies in Kiev, which Krichevsky describes as "a local think tank," noted a continuing decline in that number: down to 161 articles in 2000, from 250 in 1998, and 265 in 1990. 

A perspective: After September 11, "Western Europe -- that's France, Germany and the UK -- all saw major anti-Jewish violence, more serious than in Russia," Krichevsky said. His explanation: "radicalization takes place in the segments of the population which are suffering most."  In France, for example, the perpetrators are most often Algerian, he said. 

Frequency of anti-Semitic incidents continues rise in France

Between September 9, 2000 and November 20, 2001  .... 330 anti-Semitic incidents took place in Paris and the Paris region, where half of France's Jews live, according to ADL reports. The acts included the throwing of stones at Jews leaving synagogues after service, against students leaving Hebrew school, arson attacks on Jewish communal buildings, insulting phone calls, anonymous mail and anti-Semitic graffiti.

'Perpetrators' are said to be 'primarily young Arab immigrants, mostly from North Africa,' the ADL reports state. The increased rate in France began with the outbreak of the Palestinian intifada in September 2000.