In 1998, Pushkin Boulevard was renamed Jerusalem Street on the 3000th anniversary of the first recorded Jerusalem. Previously, before b-l was named A.S. Pushkin, this street had no name.

Between Grigore Vieru Boulevard and Pushkin Street, a monument to the victims of the Jewish ghetto in Chisinau was erected on Jerusalem Street. Nearby is the main entrance to the former ghetto, which was established in the lower part of the city in July 1941 after German and Romanian units took control of Chisinau. Within weeks, more than 11,000 Jews – men, women and children – were imprisoned in the ghetto. An information board in front of the monument shows the ghetto’s boundaries.

The exact number of Jews remaining in the city at the time is unknown. Some were deported by the Soviets shortly before the war, while others were evacuated or conscripted into the Red Army. However, thousands of Jews were unable or unwilling to leave the city. Only six people emerged alive from the ghetto in 1944…