Jerusalem-The Simon Wiesenthal Center today urged football fans visiting the Ukrainian city of Lviv, which is hosting three Group B matches of the Euro 2012 competition, toboycott two localrestaurants with blatantly anti-Semitic themes. In a statement issued here today by its Israel director, Holocaust historian Dr. EfraimZuroff, the Center named the “At theGolden Rose” and “Kryvika” (Hiding Place) restaurants in the center of Lviv asestablishments which promote anti-Semitism and Ukrainian nationalist extremism, and called upon visiting fans to take their business elsewhere.
According to Zuroff, at the “At the Golden Rose,” guests are given hats with payot (sidecurls) to mimic ultra-Orthodox Jews(see photo) and there are no prices listed on the menu, because customers are expected to haggle over prices, a notorious anti-Semitic stereotype still prevalent in EasternEurope.
The “Kryvika” recreates a bunker used by Ukrainian nationalistforces under Stefan Bandera who collaborated with the Nazis and whose supporters actively participated in the mass murder of local Jews in 1941. The password to enter therestaurant is: “Glory to the Ukraine.” “By patronizing these restaurants, football fans will beunwittingly supporting the most extreme and dangerous elements of Ukrainian society and insulting the memory of tens ofthousands of Holocaust victims murdered in Lviv by the Nazis and their Ukrainian collaborators, a message diametrically opposed to the goals of Euro 2012, ” said Zuroff.
This photo ofKryjivkaiscourtesy of TripAdvisor For more information call 00-972-50-7214156, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, orfollow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400.000 members. It is an NGO at international agencies including theUnited Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament.
