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TORONTO (JTA) — Plans to build a Holocaust gallery in the Canadian War Museum in Ottowa have been suspended after complaints from veterans groups ignited a heated debate.

Officials of the Royal Canadian Legion and other veterans organizations have complained that they weren't consulted about the proposed gallery and have asserted that the Holocaust had little to do with the experience of the Canadian military during the war.

The Canadian War Museum commemorates the role of Canadians in World War II — and in other wars.

Central to the uproar is a philosophical debate about the uniqueness of the Holocaust as a defining event of the 20th century.

Some veterans organizations have suggested that the Holocaust gallery might more appropriately be housed in the nearby Canadian Museum of Civilization. Still others, however, including several Ukrainian Canadian organizations, are questioning the need for any sort of Holocaust memorial.

Siberian community gets new synagogue

MOSCOW (JTA) — There are more than huskies and frozen land in Siberia.

Last week, more than 200 Siberian Jews attended a dedication ceremony of a synagogue in the city of Krasnoyarsk.

Four years ago, local authorities granted a building to the 6,000 person-strong Jewish community of Krasnoyarsk, an industrial city of 1 million located about 2,300 miles east of Moscow.

The building then underwent a $250,000 renovation, much of which was underwritten by Anatoly Brakov, a local, non-Jewish businessman who has also helped to finance the construction of a Russian Orthodox church and a mosque in the city.

The aluminum-domed synagogue, which can hold over 150 worshippers, is part of a $1.5-million complex that, when completed, will also house a Jewish community center and school.

Neo-Nazis hold march in Budapest

BUDAPEST (JTA) — Some 600 black-uniformed neo-Nazis recently demonstrated in Budapest to mark the 53rd anniversary of the surrender of the Nazi forces in the Hungarian capital to Soviet troops.

Istvan Gyorkos, the 55-year-old leader of the extremist Hungarian Movement, called on the demonstrators to "follow the example of the Nazi heroes" of the past.