Uman turns mikveh into bomb shelter as Jewish community said to clear out

3 March 2022, 6:14 am

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A Jewish ritual bath under a central synagogue in the Ukrainian city of Uman has been converted into a shelter for locals, CNN reports.

The city, about 125 miles south of Kyiv, has not seen any major fighting, but residents are preparing. According to the station, most of the Jewish community of 500 has left, with only some 50 people remaining.

The burial place of Rabbi Nahman of Breslau, Uman draws tens of thousands of Hasidic Jewish pilgrims every Rosh Hashanah.

Despite reports of fraught ties between the Hasidic visitors and Ukrainian locals, those in the shelter speak supportively of the Jewish community to CNN, and scoff at the idea that Russian forces are there to “denazify” the country.