Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Sigmund Freud’s Ashes Targeted by Thieves at London Crematorium

Thieves have tried to steal an ancient Greek urn containing the ashes of psychoanalysis founder Sigmund Freud, leaving the container severely damaged, police said on Wednesday.

The urn was on display at Golders Green crematorium in north London, alongside memorials to other famous names such as Dracula author Bram Stoker and actors Sid James and Peter Sellers.

Staff found the damaged urn on the floor of the crematorium on New Year’s Day.

“This was a despicable act by a callous thief,” said Metropolitan Police Detective Constable Daniel Candler in a statement.

“Even leaving aside the financial value of the irreplaceable urn … the fact that someone set out to take an object knowing it contained the last remains of a person defies belief,” he added.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.