Facebook has taken down dozens of pages containing a Russian-language phrase that combines a Ukrainian pejorative for “Jew” with the name of a nationalist whose troops murdered Jews.

The removal of pages containing the phrase “Zhidbanderovets” occurred on April 22 after it was deemed by Facebook to violate the social network’s community standards against offensive speech, according to a report on the news website evreiskiy.kiev.ua.

More than 1,000 people complained about the phrase, according to the report.

The controversial phrase means “Yid-Banderite.”

“Banderite” refers to an admirer of the late Ukrainian nationalist figure Stepan Bandera, who fought alongside — and later against — the Nazis in the 1940s and whose troops massacred Ukrainian Jews. Bandera and his troops hoped the Nazis would allow them to gain independence from Russia.

The terms became popular following the 2013 revolution in Ukraine, which had widespread support among local Jews despite the fact that it was led partially by nationalist admirers of Bandera.

The revolution broke out over the alleged corruption of former president Viktor Yanukovych and his perceived allegiance to Russia.

The term was applied to Jews supportive of the revolution by their pro-Russian critics, but also self-applied by Jewish Ukrainian nationalists.

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a matched gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT