June 24, 2004 Zaokski, Tula Region, Russia …. [Valery Ivanov/ANN Staff]
The Federal Security Service and local police are investigating an act of anti-Semitic vandalism following an attack on the Zaokski Theological Seminary, a Seventh-day Adventist institution, June 17.
In the early morning hours, Russian-language slogans such as “Death to Jews”, “There is no space for you here,” “Russia for Russians,” “Jewish sect get out of Russia,” were painted on Seminary buildings and a recently paved sidewalk, along with Nazi symbols such as the swastika and the words “skins” and “skinheads” in English. Although the Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination, its members observe the Biblical, seventh-day Sabbath, Saturday, as have Jews throughout history.
Seminary officials and students are concerned about the attack. The vandals have not yet been found, and while police are investigating, prayers for safety are solicited.
The town of Zaokski, approximately 80 miles (100 km) south of Moscow, has greatly benefited from the presence of the Adventist Seminary during the past 17 years. Residents gained additional roads, water supplies, streetlights and a small telephone exchange as the Seminary was built and as it has grown over the years. Real estate values for homes and farm buildings are said to have increased ten-fold because of the general community improvements made by Adventists.
At a May 2004 conference on the influence of Protestants in Russia, the mayor of Zaokski said the presence of the Adventist Church was important to the region.
“It was the will of God that Adventists picked out this place for the Seminary. We are satisfied and happy because they made [a] better atmosphere in our region, they teach people to live happier [lives],” he said. (See ANN, May 18, 2004.)
“We are sorry that our efforts to make the Zaoksky settlement as pretty as possible have been poisoned by such acts of vandalism,” said Pastor Artur Stele, president of the Adventist Church in the Euro-Asia region. “We don’t know who did this, whether it was local people or strangers, although we hope it is not our neighbors. We ask that the police would pay serious attention to this incident, and toward finding the perpetrators.”
The Seminary remains a good neighbor in the community, and does not seek to do anything outside its mission of education. Approximately 300 students attend classes at the school, which has expanded its offerings beyond theology into general education categories. In March 1991, the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Justice registered the Seminary as an institution of higher education, and the Accrediting Association of Seventh-day Adventist Schools, Colleges, and Universities, a body of the Church’s world headquarters, also recognizes the institution.
“The anti-Semitic graffiti at our college at Zaoksky shows clearly the real nature of anti-Semitism, which is an irrational hatred,” declared Dr. John Graz, public affairs and religious liberty director for the Adventist world church. “It will target religious minorities just as it does ethnic minorities. We hope that all religious leaders in that region will take a stand against this kind of intolerance, which is spreading in too many places.”
Copyright © 2004 by Adventist News Network.
