Belarus was once a major centre of European Jews, with 10% of the population being Jewish. But since the mid-20th century, the number of Jews has been reduced by the Holocaust, deportation, and emigration, so that today it is a very small minority of less than one percent. The Jewish community in Belarus is the third-largest in the former Soviet Union (following Russia and Ukraine). The largest center is in Minsk, home to some 20,000 Jews. There are several thousand Jews living in many of the country's smaller cities and towns, including Bobruysk (6,000), Mogilev (6,000), Gomel (5,500), and Vitebsk (5,000), and about 500 each in Baranowicz, Borisov, Brest, Grodno, Orsha, Pinsk, and Polotosk. The Belarus Union of Jewish Organizations and Communities is the major umbrella organization. For the most part, Jewish life is decentralized, and there are a great number of local organizations that are fully independent. Although anti-Semitism is not as great a problem as in Ukraine or in Russia, there have been a number of incidents that have given cause for concern. In 1994 a Center for Jewish National Culture was opened in Minsk, as was a Centre for the History of the Jews of Belarus in Vitebsk. There are synagogues in most of the towns with a large Jewish population, serve the needs of the community. Kosher food is available, and matzot are produced locally. In many towns, ruins of synagogues, yeshivot, and burial grounds can be found. Many Jewish buildings are intact but have been put to other uses.