The letter, faxed in part to The Associated Press by the office of lawmaker Alexander Krutov, said, "The negative assessments by Russian patriots of the qualities and actions against non-Jews that are typical of Jews correspond to the truth ... The statements and publications against Jews that have incriminated patriots are self-defense, which is not always stylistically correct but is justified in essence."

Yeah, you know... these patriots may not have dotted all their Is and crossed all their Ts, but their point stands: A Jew is a Jew—a subversive, perfidious schemer.

"The economic situation is ripe for this. An enemy is needed, and the enemy is well-known, traditional," [Russia's Holocaust Foundation head Alla] Gerber said.

Echoing anti-Semitic tracts of the Czarist era, the letter's authors accuse Jews of working against the interests of the countries where they live and of monopolizing power worldwide. They say the United States "has become an instrument for achieving the global aims of Judaism."

"It is possible to say that the entire democratic world today is under the monetary and political control of international Judaism, which high-profile bankers are openly proud of," the letter says.

Good heavens... On the eve of the 60^th anniversary of Auschwitz-Birkenau's liberation, no less.

I know that Russia has long been a stronghold of antisemitism, but come on... Haven't we learned anything in the last century?

originally posted at Clarity & Resolve