Kolyohin. Attacked by 5 youths (Photo: Reproduction)
Anti-Semitism: Israeli attacked in Greece
While vacationing in Kos, Nick Kolyohin from Tel Aviv was cornered in alley and beat up by a group of youths yelling anti-Semitic epithets. Kolyohin stuck in Greece without his passport after attackers snatched his bag
While vacationing in Greece, Nick Kolyohin, 24 from Tel Aviv, was beat up by a group of youths, apparently from Albania, in a violent anti-Semitic attack.
"We were in Bodrum (in Turkey), and yesterday afternoon we went to the Greek island of Kos for a few hours," Kolyohin told Ynet Thursday night. "We were sitting on the beach, and there was a group of Albanians there. They started talking amongst themselves about Israel and looking our way. We got into a volleyball game with some girls from Norway and some of the Albanians. When I said I had to go, they started saying 'Don't go' and were kind of threatening me. I didn't understand why.
Kolyohin, who was visiting Greece with four friends aged 22-24, found himself hospitalized and fearing for his life, without his passport or any way to get home to Israel until Monday.
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"After we left, they chased us and started saying things about Israel, like 'Fuck Israel' and 'You're Jewish'. Then we started scuffling a bit, and people from the beach came and broke it up. We told them we didn't want to fight, shook hands and left. Ten minutes later they followed us and caught up with us in some alley.
"I asked them what they wanted, and they didn't even say anything. They just hit me in the head. I fell, then got up and tried to fight back, but there were five of them. I fell again and they were kicking me in the head. They really lynched me. My friends tried to pull them off but they couldn't, so they ran to call for help. A military vehicle drove by and scared them off."
'I'm scared to be alone'
The head injuries Kolyohin sustained, which made him feel dizzy and blurred his thinking, were just the start of his troubles. "They took my bag with my passport, money and cell phone. Since yesterday I can't get out of Greece – because I have no passport. At the embassy it's Sukkot and they don't want to give me a special permit, until Monday. The police caught three of the guys who attacked me and brought them to the hospital for me to identify. They'll be tried tomorrow, and I'll have to testify.
"I feel better than I felt yesterday. Tomorrow I'm supposed to get out of the hospital. I talked to my family, and they tried to pressure the embassy to let me leave earlier. In the meantime, a Greek travel agency is helping me – to find someplace to sleep. I'm scared to stay alone. The police are supposed to escort me until Monday – I can't walk around here alone."
Kolyohin's friends returned to Israel Thursday night. Before boarding the flight back to Israel, one of them told Ynet, "After he was wounded, we understood that they wouldn't let us board the ambulance with him. We went back to Turkey, but one of us stayed with him."
"We gave him all the money we could. The friend that stayed with him joined us and came back to Israel with us. I spoke with the embassy yesterday. They said to call back tomorrow and talk with the consul. Nick is missing the flight tonight, and he has no passport."
The Foreign Ministry said the boy was in contact with his family, who was being updated by the Situation Room. A new passport would be issued Monday, they said.
