Broken tombstone with a willow tree from a desecrated Jewish cemetery recovered postwar

Partial gravestone with a carved willow tree and Ladino inscription recovered from the Jewish cemetery located on Sevastopol Street in Bucharest, Romania. The modern Jewish community has undertaken work to preserve what remains of the site. Other remaining gravestones were moved to the Sephardic cemetery in Bucharest. The Sevastopol Street Jewish cemetery was a historic cemetery where burials ceased in 1864. In September 1940, the right-wing, Nazi-allied government of General Antonescu and the Iron Guard seized power. Violence against Jews was common and there were two monstrous pogroms, in Bucharest and Iasi. In 1942, the regime ordered the cemetery demolished. Work began on June 25 and continued through 1944. Jewish forced laborers were made to remove the stones and break them into pieces for paving material.