World War II brought change to the status of cremation in Romania. In 1938, a cremator that had been ordered and paid for was not delivered before the war's outbreak. When Bucharest was bombed in 1944, the crematorium suffered considerable damage, leading to further financial difficulties for the society. However, religious opposition softened somewhat, and corpses from the provinces were brought in increasing numbers. In 1945 there were 600 cremations, up from 225 in 1944.