Plastic plaque memorializing Romanian Jews killed in the Holocaust

Natan Mayer (Meier, 1902-1941) was born in Iași, Romania, and was a merchant. Natan was Jewish and married to Malvina (Malka,?-1984) Roler. They had one child. Natan’s family was part of a large and vibrant Jewish community in Iași. During the summer of 1940, Romania was forced to cede large regions to the Soviet Union, Hungary, and Bulgaria. Iași was located in what remained of Romania, which fell under the rule of a radical military coalition led by General Antonescu. In November, Romania joined the Axis Alliance and began passing many anti-Semitic laws similar to Germany’s Nuremberg Laws. In June 1941, Romania joined the German attack on the Soviet Union. On June 26, the local Romanian authorities and police began a pogrom against the Jews by accusing the Jewish community of collaborating with Soviet forces. Jewish homes were raided, men were rounded up, and many suspected collaborators were taken to the Chestura, the central headquarters of the police. During the next 2 days, Romanian soldiers, police, and civilians robbed Jews, beat and shot them, and began to distribute posters calling for their massacre. Rumors spread that Jews were helping Soviet paratroopers, which prompted increased raids and murders. On June 29, Natan was likely among the Jews forced to march to the Chestura in step, with their arms raised, as civilians, soldiers, and police spat at them and hit them with stones, broken glass, clubs, and rifle butts. Those who could not continue to march were shot. In the afternoon, the Romanian authorities lost control and the German and Romanian soldiers and Romanian policeman opened fire into the crowded Chestura. Hundreds were massacred and their bodies were stripped of valuables before being thrown into carts and buried in communal graves at the Jewish cemetery or left at the garbage dump. That night, Natan was among the 2,500 survivors of the massacre that were marched to the train station. Natan was forced aboard an unventilated cattle car, which had been filled with 80 to 200 people. The evacuation train took a circuitous route to its destination, and Natan was among the hundreds that died during the 17 hour transport, likely from injuries, suffocation, heat exhaustion, or dehydration. Natan’s wife, Malvina, and their child survived the Holocaust and stayed in Iași.

The plaque was donated the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by Abraham Ghiltman, President of Comunitatea Evreilor din Iasi.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Comunitatea Evreilor din Iasi