An Israel Defense Forces officer has borne the news of the finding of the burial site of fallen soldier Shlomo Haimson, killed nearly 78 years ago, to his daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they currently live, the military said in a statement on Wednesday.
Haimson, who was born in Romania in 1930, was deported to Cyprus after British Mandate troops seized the immigrant ship carrying him to the Land of Israel.
He decided to immigrate to Israel with his mother, Ita, and his girlfriend, Perla, aboard the Aliyah Bet ship Pan York-Kibbutz Galuyot. His father died during World War II. All passengers were sent to the British-run Karaolos detention camp in Cyprus.
After the formation of the Jewish state, his mother and girlfriend were released and made their way to Israel.
Meanwhile in the detention camp, Haimson joined a clandestine group, Shurot HaMagen (“Defenders’ Ranks” in Hebrew), which operated in the Cyprus camps (12 in total) under the auspices of the Haganah. There, he trained to become a combat soldier in the IDF once he reached Israel.
Told in September 1948 that his daughter, Miriam, had been born, he cut through the camp fences with eight friends on the night of Sept. 29-30 and was shot dead by guards.
He was buried the next day in the Jewish cemetery in Margo, under a headstone left blank because those burying him did not know his name.
His remains were brought to the Jewish state in 1970 along with those of 162 others and reburied in Haifa, most of them anonymously.
Following an investigation launched in 2023, the IDF determined that Haimson was buried in grave No. 11, row 2, in the Cyprus detainees’ section of the Haifa cemetery.
His remaining family members in Rio de Janeiro are expected to travel to Israel for a military-state ceremony, during which Haimson’s name will be added to the grave, according to the IDF.
Finding ‘brings indescribable peace to our family’
The IDF’s Attaché to Brazil Col. Uri Ron stood in uniform on Tuesday night to deliver the news to Haimson’s family.
“We are deeply moved, fulfilled and eternally grateful for the unwavering dedication, meticulous efforts and sensitivity demonstrated by every professional and investigator involved in this noble mission,” the IDF quoted Haimson’s family as saying.
“Witnessing the unwavering moral commitment of the Israel Defense Forces and the State of Israel to honoring the memory and dignity of our beloved father and grandfather fills us with immense pride and touches the depths of our souls. Knowing that the story of his heroism, his love for the Land of Israel, and his devotion to his newborn daughter, Miriam, will now reach its culmination at a final resting place identified with his name brings indescribable peace to our family here in Rio de Janeiro,” they added.
The investigation was led by Brig. Gen. Edna Ilya, Chief Human Resources Officer and head of the IDF Personnel and Casualty Affairs Directorate; and Herzl Shmuel, deputy head of the Families, Commemoration and Heritage Directorate and Head of the Unit for the Commemoration of Fallen Soldiers.
Ilya said in a statement, “Our moral debt to [Haimson’s] memory and to his family has never ceased, not even for a moment … This moving encounter, across the ocean, is living proof that the IDF never abandons its soldiers, even after decades have passed.”
