VOA常速英语2014--乌克兰犹太人面临新威胁

Crisis Puts Pressure on Ukraine's Jews 乌克兰犹太人面临新威胁

ODESSA, UKRAINE — The unrest in Ukraine in recent months has put the country’s Jewish community under new pressures, with a surge of anti-Semitic graffiti and at least one attack on a synagogue. Odessa is one of the main centers of Jewish life in the country.

最近几个月来乌克兰动荡不安，墙上出现反犹太人涂鸦，并且至少发生了一起攻击犹太教堂事件，使得犹太人社区承受新的压力。

On a typical weekday, some of Odessa’s Jews gather for morning prayers as they have for generations.  Ukraine is home to 70,000 practicing Jews, the fourth largest community in Europe. Some 400,000 Ukrainians have Jewish roots.  Normally, the Jews participate in business, politics and other aspects of life without significant notice.

从星期一到星期五，敖德萨的一些犹太人早晨聚集在一起祈祷。他们世世代代以来都是这样做的。乌克兰有7万名犹太教徒，是欧洲第四大犹太人社区，大约40万乌克兰人有犹太人血统。通常，犹太人参与商业、政界等领域，但并不特别引人注意。

But at times of tension like Ukraine has experienced in recent months, anti-Semitic feelings come out, like this graffiti.  It reads “Death to Jews.”  It’s at the site of the fire on May 2nd in Odessa, in which dozens of pro-Russian demonstrators were killed.

可是在紧张局势下，例如乌克兰最近几个月的局势下，反犹太情绪开始抬头，比如这个涂鸦说，“犹太人去死吧。”5月2号这里发生了一场大火，几十名亲俄罗斯示威者因此丧生。

But Odessa’s Chief Rabbi, Abraham Wolff, says the Jewish community is divided on the Russia-Ukraine issue, just like the broader community.

可是敖德萨的首席拉比亚伯拉罕·沃尔夫说，和全国一样，犹太人社区在俄罗斯和乌克兰关系的问题上也有两种看法。

“I think that the Jewish question has really no role in this war.  Many people think that there is a Jewish question because they are constantly trying to involve Jews on the grounds of our nationhood. But this is absolutely not true," said Wolff.

沃尔夫说:“我想，在这次战争中，犹太人并不是问题的一部分。很多人认为这和犹太人有关，这是因为他们不断地想把犹太人拉扯到民族问题上来，可是这绝对不是事实。”

Still, Rabbi Wolff was involved in painting over some anti-Semitic graffiti recently, along with the regional leader of the new Right Sector 1 political party, who said his group had nothing to do with it.

沃尔夫承认敖德萨犹太人有一个逃亡计划，不过他说，希望不会走到这一步。

And the rabbi admits to having an exit plan for Odessa’s Jews, although he says he doesn’t expect to have to use it.

“There are dangers, but they’re not imminent 2.  And I don’t think they will become real.  Naturally, we have some problems - anti-Semitism, fascism - like in every country," he said.

“危险是有的，不过不是迫在眉睫，我想危机不会变成现实。就像每个国家一样，我们自然面对一些问题，比如反犹太主义，法西斯等。”

Anti-Semitism is deeply rooted in some parts of Ukraine.  There were anti-Jewish pogroms in the early 20th century, and this ravine in Kyiv was the scene of one of the worst Nazi 3 massacres 4 of World War II.  More than 30,000 Jews were lined up, shot and buried at Babi Yar.  Today, it draws few visitors, and children use the ravine as a shortcut 5 on their way home from school.

反犹太主义在乌克兰的部分地区根深蒂固，20世纪初发生过反犹太人大屠杀，基辅的巴比雅山谷曾经是第二次世界大战中最残暴的纳粹大屠杀现场，3万多犹太人排着队被枪杀，掩埋在这里。今天，很少有人来参观，孩子们把这里当成放学回家的捷径。

At the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Professor Volodymyr Paniotto says 20 years of research indicates anti-Semitism spiked 6 about six years ago.  But he says non-Jewish Ukrainians don’t have significantly different views on Jews than on most other ethnic 7 groups.

“We consider that mainly it’s connected with the worsening of the situation.  The level of poverty was increasing. And when the situation became worse, people tried to find some enemy," said Paniotto.

Paniotto says the current crisis has also made some people look for scapegoats 8, but he does not think that represents a long term change for the Jews of Ukraine.