Unit for Identifying Human Remains Recounts Harrowing October 7th Experiences
Translated & summarized from Davar by baba
Yosef Shaulov, a reservist NCO with the military's Unit for Data and Remains Collection (ANACH), shared his unit's difficult experiences identifying victims of the October 7th attacks. Deployed to missile strike sites and later to the Shura military camp, ANACH performed forensic work under horrific conditions. The unit's efforts, including innovative genetic identification methods, helped identify hundreds of victims and militants over eight months. Shaulov highlighted the profound psychological impact and the crucial role of unit camaraderie in coping with the trauma.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Reservist Yosef Shaulov described the harrowing work of the military's Unit for Data and Remains Collection (ANACH) after October 7th.
- ANACH performs forensic identification of casualties, similar to police, at sites of missile strikes and massacres.
- The unit was deployed to the Shura military camp, confronting the immense scale of the October 7th massacre.
- ANACH used innovative genetic identification methods, including fingernail analysis, to identify victims.
- Over eight months, the unit identified hundreds of victims, militants, and body parts.
- Shaulov emphasized the profound psychological toll and the importance of unit camaraderie for resilience.
Yosef Shaulov, a reservist NCO with the Unit for Data and Remains Collection (ANACH), described the unit's difficult work identifying bodies following the October 7th Hamas attacks. ANACH, a military unit operating under the Home Front Command, is deployed to sites with suspected casualties, particularly after missile strikes on buildings. Shaulov explained that ANACH's professional role is similar to police forensics, involving photography, fingerprinting, dental records, and documenting the scene around a victim. They also work with rescue engineers to secure unstable structures and with population officers to determine who might be inside a damaged building.
Shaulov recounted a particularly traumatic incident in Bat Yam where a ballistic missile strike buried a woman under rubble. After her body was recovered and pronounced dead, ANACH, in cooperation with a population officer who found photos on social media, identified her by a tattoo. He also described the chaos at the Shura military camp on October 8th, where his six-person unit was among the first to confront the scale of the massacre, working amidst horrific conditions to identify victims for grieving families. Their dedicated work earned them the nickname "ANACH Patrol," leading to the unit's full deployment there.
The unit faced significant challenges, including a case where a body was mistakenly placed in a container with 1,500 Hamas militants at the Etan Field. To expedite identification, they proposed using only a fingernail tip for genetic testing, a method that led to 110 identifications in one night, including 11 missing persons. Over eight months at Shura, ANACH identified Israeli and foreign victims of the massacre, as well as approximately 1,500 neutralized militants and 1,821 body parts. Shaulov emphasized that the unit's resilience was maintained through immense camaraderie and mutual support, acknowledging the profound psychological toll and the need to carry these experiences throughout their lives.
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