{The 4 sides of the pedestal at the centre of the circle are inscribed with 34 names, each with a single year. There is no explanatory text. See Subjects commemorated for the names.}
A bomb fell here in WW2 destroying a number of graves. This circular walled enclosure and the stone pedestal at the centre commemorate that event. Names are carved (each with a year) on the four faces of the block, presumably the names that were on the destroyed gravestones together with their year of death. They are in no particular sequence that we could determine.
We have attempted to transcribe the 34 names but some sides are so weather-beaten/lichen-covered that the lettering is largely lost. More might be read under different lighting conditions.
We recognise that this monument is more in commemoration of the lost graves than of the people who were buried in those graves. We Googled with the first name (Elizabeth de Gideon Silvaroza) and found . This site has other names as well but we could not see if it has the complete list.
In you can see that the ground inside the circle is/was marked out as a Star of David but on our visit (2024) any paving was hidden by the gravel.
Site: Novo Beth Chaim Cemetery - WW2 bomb (1 memorial)
E1, Mile End Road, Queen Mary College
The right hand edge of a long information board can be seen to the left of our photo, beside the steps that lead down from the walkway into the fields of graves. It reads:
"This Jewish cemetery links us to one of the earliest communities of immigrants to settle in London.
"In 1657, with the encouragement of Oliver Cromwell, then Head of State, Jews were allowed to return to England after an absence of over 350 years.
"Many who arrived were descendants of families that had fled persecution in Spain and Portugal. Upon arrival in London they founded a synagogue in the City of London and acquired a burial ground in Mile End, not far from here.
"By 1733 a second Jewish burial ground was required, and it was established here, in what was once an orchard. It became known as the Novo - or the New Cemetery.
"By the 20th century, it too was almost full, and was formally closed in 1936. In 1974 most of the cemetery was acquired by Queen Mary, University of London for the expansion of its campus.
"In 2012, Queen Mary, University of London and the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation came together to preserve the remaining part of the cemetery, protecting it for the future. It is now a place to reflect on the shared history of this site and of all the people who have made London their home."
Information we'd add is: The Novo cemetery was enlarged in 1855 and what’s left of this cemetery dates from that extension. It was closed to burials in about 1918. In 1974 about three-quarters of the cemetery was built on, leaving just the more recent graves. The contents of the old graves were exhumed and reburied in a cemetery on college-owned land in Brentwood, Essex. In 2011-12 the graveyard was tidied and renovated.
Those buried here include: Daniel Mendoza and Benjamin D’Israeli, grandfather of Benjamin Disraeli.
has an interesting aerial photo showing the cemetery before the 1974 development - use the clocktower to orient yourself.
To visit the cemetery just walk through the QMC campus to the stairs in our photo.
Information we could not find: the date of the bomb; the date the memorial was erected. A complete list of names.
Sources include: which has many photos.
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