Tyumen, Russia: Academic uses blood libel as part of state-sponsored education program

A professor at a Tyumen University in Russia asserted her belief that Jews ritually murder Christian children and use their blood to bake matzo, an accusation reminiscent of medieval times. Worse, Professor Svetlana Shestakovaya's lecture was part of the state-sponsored educational program "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" which has been introduced in Russian schools throughout the country, sometimes as a part of the compulsory curriculum.

Shestakovaya, an assistant professor of sociology at Tyumen State Oil-Gas University, gave a series of lectures on the topic of "Sectarian Studies" in a course geared toward future teachers of the "Fundamentals" curriculum.

She reportedly defined matzo as: "A Jewish Eucharist that uses a small quantity of the blood of [Christian] Orthodox people whom they [the Jews] martyred... They use a special method for killing an Orthodox child or a saint, such as when the Tsar's family was killed... they were bled because a live person needs to be stabbed before he is dead, and while he dies, the blood comes out... That's why sometimes children go missing, it's the Jews...."

The professor didn't refrain from attacking other religious confessions, assailing nearly every belief system known to man that does not conform to her exclusionary view of Russian Orthodoxy.

Source: Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union, 06-12-2008

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