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RUSSIANS CONDUCTING INVESTIGATION TO DETERMINE WHETHER THERE IS A CONNECTION TO PREVIOUS ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACKS Wiesenthal Center offers monetary award for handing over Nazi criminals in the Baltic Republics Russian security officials are conducting an investigation to determine whether the death of a Russian officer in the port of Baltiysk, who was killed when he attempted to remove a booby-trapped sign from the yard of his home at the military base, was linked to the series of similar anti-Semitic attacks in various parts of Russia. Booby-trapped posters have evidently become a plague in Russia since a Russian woman and her daughter were injured several weeks ago when they tried to remove a poster near Moscow that read "Death to the Jews." Soon after that, a similar sign was found near Vladivostock and later, a man was wounded in Omsk in Siberia by a booby-trapped anti-Semitic sign. The death of the officer at the port of Baltiysk on the Baltic Sea occurred when he tried to remove the sign from the lawn near his residence. It is still not clear whether the sign contained anti-Semitic slogans but the authorities are investigating whether a link exists between this incident and the others - despite the contention that it is an internal matter on the base. The head of the parliamentary faction of the Union of Right Forces, Boris Nemtsov, maintains that there is a clear trend toward revived anti-Semitism in Russia, and that the authorities must take immediate measures to punish those responsible and contain the phenomenon. The Simon Wiesenthal Center reportedly launched a campaign this week to locte Nazi criminals in the Baltic States. The Center offers anyone who provides information leading to the apprehension and trial of Nazi criminals a monetary award of $3,000-$10,000 - a very considerable sum in the region. According to the heads of the Wiesenthal Center, this campaign offers the last opportunity to locate Nazi criminals, due to their advanced age. In the Baltic States there were many Nazi collaborators, who helped in the annihilation of entire Jewish communities.
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