Sephardic Temple in Bucharest after it was robbed and set on fire during a revolt of the paramilitary Iron Guard between January 21 and 23, 1941. Prime Minister Gen. Ion Antonescu had invited the Iron Guard, as a powerful political, long-persecuted movement, to join his cabinet the previous September even as he worked to curb their influence. It was an uneasy alliance for that reason and because many Iron Guard followers were vengeful toward anyone associated with the regime. On January 21, 1941, the Iron Guard launched a rebellion (Legionary Rebellion) to overthrow Antonescu and seize control of the country. After three days of brutal street fighting, the Romanian army was able to crush the putsch, but only after the rebellion had erupted into a vicious pogrom against Jews. Antonescu banned the Iron Cross movement and imprisoned 9,000 of it members.
