August 29, 2006 - Belgrade, Serbia - Two Israeli citizens were severely beaten by a group of skinheads in a Belgrade park in what Jewish leaders here described Tuesday as an anti-Semitic attack.

The two -- Yariv Avram, 27, and Bojana Petkovic, 23 -- were attacked late Sunday during a rock music festival in a downtown park by several men wearing Nazi symbols, police said.

Avram suffered serious head injuries, while Petkovic was bruised, the two Israelis told Belgrade media.

"They were chanting 'Auschwitz, Auschwitz' and 'Go to Germany' as they attacked us," Avram said, adding police did nothing to protect them.

"This is not the first such anti-Jewish and racist attack by skinheads and other such groups" In Serbia, the Serbian Jewish Community said in a statement. It called for police quickly arrest the perpetrators.

Serbia has seen a surge of anti-Semitism in recent years fueled by Serb nationalists. Fearing that it will lose the nationalist vote, the current Serb government is refusing to stop these groups from operating.

Serbia had a 30,000-strong Jewish community before World War II, but less than half survived the Nazi occupation. Many later moved to Israel or to the West.

City of Belgrade was one of the first Judenfrei cities in Europe during World War II.

There is a growing Serbian Skinhead scene in Serbia. The Skins' focus is on Serbian nationalism, but they also embrace the racism and anti-Semitism of their comrades around the world.

A Serbia-based branch of a United States gang called United White Skinheads is run by Branko Kunovki of Belgrade. Kunovski, in a letter he wrote, took credit for vandalizing a Belgrade synagogue with Nazi stickers from Gary Lauck's Nebraska-based NSDAP-AO and boasted that he booby-trapped them with hidden razors. Kunovski also runs _Predskaanje_ (Prediction), a skinzine, and distributes Serbian Skinhead music internationally.