Yarzheit Leaf - Victims of the Iasi Pogrom in 1941

Yarzheit Leaf - Victims of the Iasi Pogrom in 1941
"In memory of the people who were murdered on (June 1941)ג€¦". A yarzheit leaf, handwritten and hand painted. [Iasi, Romania], 1942.
Decorated frame; on the upper part of the leaf a colorful illustration of Rachel's Tomb. The names of 58 of the Iasi pogrom victims and 4 names of people killed in World War I, 1916-1918. "El Maleh Rahamim" prayer appears on the lower part of the leaf. Next to the lower margins are the names of the initiators of this leaf: Iancu Barasch, E. Nagler, B. Bercovici and N. Suchar. The writer: Itzchak ben Efraim Benditer, son of Efraim Benditer and Chaja-Perl nֳ©e Schwemer, born in Iasi in 1927, made Aliya in 1947.
Thousands of Jews were murdered by the Romanians in Iasi in June 1941. This was one of the cruelest pogroms in the history of Eastern European Jews and is called "The Iasi Pogrom". When the Jews resumed their visits to synagogues, Efraim Benditer asked his young son Yitzchak to draw a memorial plaque for the great synagogue in Iasi, with names of the Jews who used to pray there. This plaque was mounted in a prominent place. Later, Yitzchak was asked to prepare more plaques for other synagogues in Iasi. He drew a total of twelve plaques during the early 1940s. Presented here is one of those plaques. An additional one, similar in style, is found in the Lochamei HaGeta'ot archives. 69x50 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, pin-holes and tears, mainly at borders.