A leading Moscow university ordered its foreign students on Thursday to remain in their dormitories for the next three days because of fears of ethnic violence before Adolf Hitler's birthday, students said.
Hundreds of students at the prestigious Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy were told to stock up on food and warned they would not be let out of the dormitories through Saturday in an attempt to protect them amid a marked rise in hate crimes.
Ethnically motivated violence tends to increase in the days leading up to and after Hitler's birthday on April 20, when some members of ultra-nationalist organizations shout slogans and stage attacks on dark-skinned foreign and other non-Slavic-looking people.
The measure at Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy did not appear to be exclusive. Other universities and organizations have in the past also warned foreigners of possible violence ahead of Hitler's birthday. In Moscow, authorities have closed down some outdoor markets over the last couple of years where many traders are foreigners.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/19/international/i061647D97.DTLI'd say the 3rd week in April is the deadliest week in the year. Think of all the things that happened that week:
April 12 - Civil War 1861
April 14 - Lincoln Assinated 1865
April 15 - Titanic 1912
April 16 - Virginia Tech (new) 2007
April 18 - The Big Quake 1906
April 19 - Revolultionary War Starts 1775
Oklahoma Bombing 1995
April 20 - Columbine 1999
Seven deadly days....I'm sure I must've left something out.
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