Yosyf Samuyilovych Zisels (; born 2 December 1946), also Josef Zissels, is a Ukrainian human rights activist and former

Soviet dissident Soviet dissidents were people who disagreed with certain features of Soviet ideology or with its entirety and who were willing to speak out against them. The term ''dissident'' was used in the Soviet Union (USSR) in the period from the mid-1960s ...

. He was a member of the

Ukrainian Helsinki Group The Ukrainian Helsinki Group () was founded on November 9, 1976, as the Ukrainian Public Group to Promote the Implementation of the Helsinki Accords on Human Rights () to monitor human rights in Ukraine. The group was active until 1981 when all ...

(UHG), involved in the

samizdat Samizdat (, , ) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual rep ...

movement,

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activist, prominent activist in the Jewish movement in Ukraine, and a political prisoner. On 24 June 2003, the Council of Leaders of All-Ukrainian Jewish Organizations stated that "Chairman of the Vaad of Ukraine, Joseph Zissels, 'is declared persona non grata in the Jewish community and has no right to represent the Jewish community of Ukraine'". In April 2015, Yosyf Zisels stated that the combination of the slur " zhyd" and the word "

banderite A Banderite or Banderovite (; ; ; ) is a name for the members of the OUN-B, a faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. The term, used from late 1940 onward, derives from the name of Stepan Bandera (1909–1959), the ultranation ...

", which killed Jews, "acquired a new meaning and a positive connotation". On 13 October 2016, Zisels noted that "representatives of the OUN Ilko Savchin and Mikhailo Svistun hid the Jewish family from the Germans for almost the entire war". Zisels believes that the monument to

Symon Petliura Symon Vasyliovych Petliura (; – 25 May 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian People's Army (UNA) and led the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Ukrainian War of Independence, a pa ...

, whose soldiers killed many thousands of Jews, may be in

Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; , ) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It serves as the administrative centre, administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast. It is the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. It also s ...

, where a large number of Jews were exterminated. On 27 April 2018, Zissels criticized the opinion of 56 US congressmen who were concerned about the "growth of state-funded

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

", saying that their words were not true.

Awards

* Order for Courage 1st class (November 8, 2006). * Order of Merit 3rd class (November 25, 2005).

Opinions about Zisels

* The head of the Israeli branch of the

Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating antisemitism, tolerance educati ...

Efraim Zuroff Efraim Zuroff (; born August 5, 1948) is an American-born Israeli historian and Nazi hunter who has played a key role in bringing Nazi and fascist war criminals to trial. Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center office in Jerusalem, is th ...

, said that Zisels, "as always, distorts historical reality in order to win the favor of the

Ukrainian government The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine (), is the highest body of state executive power in Ukraine. As the Cabinet of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, it was formed on 18 April 1991, by the Law ...

Bibliography

* ' Khronika tekushchykh sobytiy' Chronicle of Current Events'(CCE). —

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

: Khronika, 1977, issue No. 44 — p. 35. * CCE.— New York: Khronika, 1978, issue No. 48.— pp. 43–44. * CCE.— New York: Khronika, 1979, issue No. 51.— pp. 41, 151, 178; issue No. 52.— pp. 21–24, 133 * CCE.— New York: Khronika, 1980, issue No. 53.— p. 29-35, 175; issue No. 57.— p. 88. * Vesti iz SSSR ews from the USSR. V. 1. 1978–1981.—

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

: Prava cheloveka — 1978, 3–16, 4–1;1979, 5–8, 7–2, 8-8, 11–6, 18/19-24, 22–21; 1980, 2-36, 9–11. * Vesti iz SSSR. V. 2. 1982–1984. — Munich: Prava cheloveka — 1984, 19/20-2, 23–1. * Vesti iz SSSR. V. 3. 1985–1986. — Munich: Prava cheloveka — 1985, 7/8-3. * Vesti iz SSSR. V. 4. 1987–1988. — Munich: Prava cheloveka — 1987, 19/20-18; 1988, 5/6-45, 19/20-5. * The

. On the 20th anniversary of its creation — Kyiv.: URP, 1996.— p. 13.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zisels, Yosyf 1941 births Living people People from Tashkent Soviet Jews Soviet dissidents Soviet human rights activists Ukrainian human rights activists Jewish human rights activists Ukrainian Helsinki Group Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class