Chaimson ‘s grave was left without a name because those who buried him did not know his identity.
By United with Israel Staff
Nearly 78 years after he was shot and killed while attempting to escape a British detention camp in Cyprus and reach the newly established State of Israel, the burial place of Shlomo Chaimson has finally been identified.
The IDF announced Thursday that an extensive investigation determined that Chaimson, recognized as a fallen member of Israel’s defense forces, is buried in grave 11, row 2, in the Cyprus immigrants section of the Haifa cemetery. For decades, his remains had rested there anonymously.
Chaimson was born in Romania in 1930 and lost his father during World War II. After the war, he set out for the Land of Israel with his mother, Ita, and his partner, Perla, aboard the Pan York, also known as Kibbutz Galuyot.
British forces intercepted the ship and deported its passengers to detention camps in Cyprus. While there, Chaimson joined Shurot HaMeginim, which operated under the auspices of the Haganah, and trained in preparation to serve in the IDF upon reaching Israel.
After Israel declared independence, his mother and partner were released and immigrated to the country, joining a group preparing to establish Kibbutz Magen in the western Negev.
Chaimson remained in Cyprus. In September 1948, he learned that his daughter, Miriam, had been born and decided to escape the camp and make his way to Israel.
On the night of Sept. 29-30, Chaimson and eight others broke through the fences of the Karaolos detention camp. Guards discovered the group and opened fire, killing the 18-year-old. His companions were captured and returned to the camp.
Chaimson was buried the following day in the Jewish cemetery in Margo, Cyprus. His grave was left without a name because those who buried him did not know his identity.
In 1970, Israel launched Operation Margo, bringing the remains of 163 Jews from Cyprus to Israel. Around 120 were unidentified and were reburied as unknowns in a special section of the Kfar Samir cemetery in Haifa.
The effort to locate Chaimson’s grave eventually led to the IDF’s Missing Persons Branch. In 2023, a special investigative team was established to solve the case.
Investigators examined archival documents from around the world, collected testimony, analyzed historical photographs and conducted archaeological surveys. Together with the Military Rabbinate, they ultimately determined that Chaimson’s remains had been brought to Israel in 1970 and buried in grave 11, row 2.
His family, including his daughter Miriam, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who live in Rio de Janeiro, were informed of the discovery Wednesday.
“Seventy-eight years have passed since Shlomo Chaimson fell in the detention camp, and our moral debt to his memory and his family never ceased for a moment,” said Brig. Gen. Edna Ilya, the IDF’s chief human resources officer and head of its Casualties Division.
“Last night, when the IDF attaché delivered the news to the family in Rio de Janeiro, the past embraced the present,” she added. “This moving encounter, across the ocean, is living testimony that the IDF never abandons its fighters, even after decades.”
Chaimson’s descendants are expected to travel to Israel for a state military ceremony in Haifa, where a memorial marker bearing his name will finally be placed over his grave.
His family said the discovery had brought them profound relief and expressed gratitude to those who spent years working to identify his burial place.
“The knowledge that the story of his heroism, his love for the Land of Israel and his devotion surrounding the birth of his daughter Miriam now culminates in a final resting place identified with his name brings indescribable peace to our family here in Rio de Janeiro,” they said.
Nearly eight decades after Chaimson was killed trying to reach his family and the fledgling Jewish state, his grave will finally bear his name, bringing a decades-long search to a close.
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