JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The remains of Theodor Herzl’s grandparents were exhumed in Serbia on Wednesday ahead of their reburial in Israel, 77 years after the Zionist leader himself was laid to rest on Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl.

Shimon Leib Herzl and Rivka Herzl were removed from the Jewish cemetery in Zemun, near Belgrade, in a process carried out in accordance with local religious and legal requirements. Representatives of the World Zionist Organization, Israel’s Foreign Ministry, and ZAKA participated in the operation before the remains were placed in special coffins for transport to Israel.

A state burial ceremony is scheduled for next Wednesday at the Herzl family plot on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, where the couple will be laid to rest alongside their grandson. Organizers described the move as the completion of a historic journey, reuniting the Herzl family in the Jewish state.

The World Zionist Organization said the transfer follows four years of diplomatic and political efforts to secure all the necessary approvals for bringing the remains to Israel.

World Zionist Organization Chairman Yaakov Hagoel called the reburial “the closing of a historic circle.”

“When Zion returns its sons to it, it returns also its forebears,” Hagoel said. “Herzl’s grandfather and grandmother are finally coming to rest alongside their grandson in the heart of Jerusalem. Today we are connecting the roots of the Herzl family to the land for which he dedicated his life.”

Dr. Yizhar Hess, the organization’s acting chairman, said the reburial fulfills Herzl’s wish to have his family buried in the Land of Israel once a Jewish state was established. “Today we have been privileged to fulfill his final request. Shimon-Leib and Rivka Herzl, who played an important role in Herzl’s childhood and in shaping his Zionist outlook, will now be laid to rest in Jerusalem.”

ZAKA CEO Tzvi Chassid said the organization was honored to assist in what he described as “a national and moral mission of the highest order.”

“Our professional team carried out this complex and sensitive operation with the utmost care, respect and reverence,” Chassid said. “We were privileged to help bring them to their final resting place in the Land of Israel.”