BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

10/06/2005

Jews get by in Belarus, but they feel the authorities' watchful eyes

By Lev Krichevsky

MINSK, Belarus, June 10 (JTA) ? In Minsk?s only Jewish day school, there is a portrait of President Alexander Lukashenko in every classroom.

The same image of Belarus? dictator that looks at the 300 students at the Byalik Jewish Day School No. 132 can be found in almost every public institution in this former Soviet republic.

Despite the democratic gains made in other parts of the former Soviet Union, life for many Belarussians is similar today to what it was before communism collapsed 14 years ago.

The agricultural sector still is largely based on Soviet-style collective farms, every major industrial facility is still owned by the state, the state-run media are full of praise for...

Source:

http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=15525&intcategoryid=2