Identification of Missing Norwegian World War II Soldiers,in Karelia Russia |
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| Authors: | Inge Morild MD PhD Stian S Hamre PhD Rene Huel BSc Thomas J Parsons PhD |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Clinical Medicine, Gade Laboratory of Pathology, University of Bergen and Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway;2. Department of Archaeology, History, Religion and Cultural Studies, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway;3. The International Commission on Missing Persons, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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| Abstract: | This article presents the multidisciplinary effort in trying to identify the skeletal remains of 100 Norwegian soldiers serving in the German army, killed in Karelia Russia in 1944, from the recovery of the remains through the final identification using DNA. Of the 150 bone samples sent for DNA testing, 93 DNA profiles were obtained relating to 57 unique individuals. The relatives could not be directly contacted as the soldiers were considered as traitors to Norway; therefore, only 45 reference samples, relating to 42 cases of the missing, were donated. DNA matches for 14 soldiers and 12 additional body part re‐associations for these individuals were found. Another 24 bone samples were re‐associated with 16 individuals, but no familial match was found. More than six decades after the end of WWII, DNA analysis can significantly contribute to the identification of the remains. |
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| Keywords: | forensic science forensic identification
DNA
Second World War skeletal material Karelia Russia |
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