Giving a Face to the Fallen

Giving a Face to the Fallen is an Israeli nonprofit dedicated to commemorating fallen IDF soldiers about whom little is known, preserving their memory through research and documentation.

The organization's origins trace back to Memorial Day 2010, when Dorit Perry and Uri Sagi stood at the mass grave of Jenin casualties in the 1948 fighters' section. There they noticed the gravestone of Yosef Lahana, who fell in the battle for Jenin in 1948. The stone was 'empty' — it lacked his parents' names, his birthplace, and when he immigrated to Israel, details normally inscribed on the graves of fallen soldiers. Even the Ministry of Defense's Yizkor website had no information about him. Perry and Sagi embarked on an eight-month worldwide research effort, searching archives and speaking with contacts and researchers in Israel, Greece, Brazil, the United States and France. They located his relatives, completed his life story, and found his photograph. In May 2011, a gravestone unveiling ceremony was held with the participation of his relatives, then-Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, MK Matan Vilnai, Colonel Hoshea Friedman Ben-Shalom, MK Shuli Moalem-Refaeli, and a large audience. This research led to the establishment of the association. The volunteer organization 'Giving a Face to the Fallen' was founded in 2013 by Dorit Perry and Uri Sagi. Its volunteers work to commemorate and complete the histories and photographs of approximately 1,000 soldiers who fell in Israel's campaigns before statehood and in the War of Independence, and whose life stories remain 'anonymous.' These 'anonymous' fighters and fallen are mostly of European origin, some the last remnant of their families, who arrived in Palestine shortly before the War of Independence; others were lone soldiers who immigrated alone from Arab lands, and a minority were native-born. Some are considered 'fallen whose burial place is unknown,' and the information collected by the organization's volunteers and researchers is effectively the only memorial for them. Among other activities, volunteers place notes on the graves of fallen soldiers with missing details, hoping relatives will make contact. By 2019, they had located and deciphered information on more than one hundred fallen soldiers, and in some cases gravestones were replaced. In a special one-time project with the National Insurance Institute, life stories were deciphered of victims of terrorist attacks killed in the 1920–1921 riots in Jerusalem and Jaffa, whose tragic stories accompany the years of the state's establishment. Volunteers frequently visit the graves of 'anonymous' fighters and commemorate 'Last Descendant' (Netzer Aharon) fallen and those who are the 'last remnant' of their families. According to Yad Vashem and the Ministry of Defense, 'Last Descendant' fallen are those who immigrated to Israel after experiencing the horrors of the Holocaust, were the last of their nuclear family after it was destroyed in the Holocaust, and fell as fallen of Israel's campaigns. In contrast, soldiers who immigrated before, during, or after World War II, were the last of their families but did not experience the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand or immigrated before the outbreak of World War II, are not commemorated as 'Last Descendant.' The organization calls them 'Last Remnant.' In June 2017, a special memorial ceremony was held at a British military cemetery near London, where the British recognized that the 23 Sea Scouts (Yordei HaSira) were in fact soldiers in the British Army; this followed research in which the organization participated. In October 2018, the organization initiated a memorial ceremony at the British military cemetery in Jerusalem to commemorate the names of 45 fighters of the Jewish Legion who fell in the British Army's campaign to conquer Palestine, after they received recognition through a project to document their life stories. The organization operates with about 80 volunteers. In recent years, the life stories of more than 270 'anonymous' fighters have been completed and their photographs found. In the last year, volunteers conducted extensive research and located the graves of several fallen who are defined as 'burial place unknown.' In several cases, the Ministry of Defense corrected and replaced some of the gravestones of the fallen; the life stories of these 'anonymous fighters' that were completed and their photographs that were found now appear on the organization's website and on the Ministry of Defense's Yizkor website. The organization's activities include: completing life details of fallen of Israel's campaigns and victims of terrorist attacks whose graves are empty and whose details and photographs are missing; promoting memorial events and producing memorial albums for the fallen, including for 'Last Descendant' fallen; assisting the IDF's ITAN unit in locating family members of fallen whose burial place is unknown, for DNA sampling; promoting the establishment of monuments and memorial signs; promoting educational programs in schools and youth and soldier frameworks to learn about the contribution of the fallen to the establishment of the state; holding lectures and tours following 'anonymous fighters' for students, soldiers and the general public; assisting in locating graves of fallen buried in civilian cemeteries, mainly for family members and others; assisting in locating family members of fallen, responding to inquiries from Israel and abroad; assisting families in renewing 'civilian gravestones' for fallen who fell before statehood and are buried in civilian cemeteries.

• 2019

  By this year, volunteers had located and deciphered information on more than one hundred fallen soldiers, with some gravestones replaced.

• 2018

  Memorial ceremony at the British military cemetery in Jerusalem commemorating 45 Jewish Legion fighters after they received recognition.

• 2017

  Special memorial ceremony at a British military cemetery near London; the British recognize the 23 Sea Scouts as British Army soldiers following research the organization participated in.

• 2013

  The volunteer organization 'Giving a Face to the Fallen' is founded by Dorit Perry and Uri Sagi.

• 2011

  Gravestone unveiling ceremony for Yosef Lahana in May, attended by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and others.

• 2010

  Dorit Perry and Uri Sagi notice the empty gravestone of Yosef Lahana on Memorial Day, sparking the research that led to the organization's founding.

Volunteer-based commemorative non-profit focused on 'anonymous' fallen soldiers, operating in coordination with Israeli official bodies.

Product categories. memorial services · historical documentation

1. 1אודותינו | לתת פנים לנופליםlatetpanim.org.il
2. 2Giving a Face to the Fallen - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3לתת פנים לנופלים - Wikipedia (Hebrew)he.wikipedia.org