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Remains of casualty of Israel’s War of Independence recovered

The remains of Private Livka Shefer were found seven decades after she was declared a fallen soldier whose place of burial is unknown.

By: World Israel News Staff

The remains of Private Livka Shefer, who was killed during the 1948 War of Independence while defending Kibbutz Yad Mordechai in the south, was finally located after being declared a fallen soldier whose place of burial is unknown seven decades ago.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced Sunday that a meticulous investigation revealed that she was buried in a mass grave at Kibbutz Nitsanim.

The search operation was conducted by the IDF’s MIA Unit, part of the Casualty and Wounded Soldiers Department.

Shefer was born in Poland in 1914 and made Aliyah [immigrated to Israel] in 1939. She joined the founding group that established Yad Mordechai and was one of its defenders against the invading Egyptian army.

Shefer served as a runner and was killed in action on May 24 while trying to save a wounded comrade, Pvt. Yitzhak Rubinstein.

She was the only female combat casualty whose burial place was unknown.

IDF Lt.-Col. Nir Israeli, commander of the MIA Accounting Unit, said that this discovery “gives us the strength to move on and to keep tirelessly inquiring and investigating to close as many investigations into the locations of fallen soldiers whose place of burial is unknown,” according to Israel’s Ynet news.

The IDF plans to hold a special memorial ceremony during which Shefer’s name will be added to the tombstone at the mass grave at Nitsanim.