The IDF has identified the burial place of fallen soldier Shlomo Chaimson nearly 78 years after he was killed while trying to escape a British detention camp in Cyprus, the military announced Wednesday. Investigators determined that Chaimson is buried in grave No. 11, row 2, in the Cyprus immigrants’ section of a Haifa cemetery.

Chaimson was born in Romania in 1930 and lost his father during World War II. He later sailed toward Israel with his mother, Ita, and his partner, Perla, aboard the Pan York–Kibbutz Galuyot, but British forces intercepted the ship and deported its passengers to Cyprus. While detained, Chaimson joined the Haganah-backed Shurot HaMeginim and trained to become an IDF fighter after reaching Israel.

After Israel’s establishment, his mother and partner were released and moved to Israel. In September 1948, Chaimson learned that his daughter, Miriam, had been born and decided to escape. On the night of Sept. 29–30, he and eight others broke through the camp fence but were spotted by guards, who opened fire. Chaimson was killed and buried the following day in the Jewish cemetery in Margo, Cyprus, under a headstone bearing no name.

In 1970, Israel brought 163 people buried in Margo to Israel, around 120 of them unidentified, and reburied them in a special section in Haifa. A renewed identification effort began in 2010, and in 2023 the IDF established a special investigative team that examined archival material from around the world, collected testimony, analyzed period photographs and conducted archaeological surveys.

Chaimson’s daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who live in Rio de Janeiro, were informed Tuesday that the investigation had been completed. Brig. Gen. Edna Ilya said that when Chaimson’s name is placed on his grave, Israel will “restore his identity, his dignity and his rightful place in the heart of the nation.” His descendants are expected to travel to Israel for a military-state ceremony marking the identification.