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A tiny
pair of shoes
which has been found 90 years after
the Titanic went down, has
helped to identify one of the the
vicitims of the sinking who was
previously just an "Unknown child".
Eino Viljami Panula, a
13 month old child from Finland, has
been identified by extracting
DNA from his body and that of
someone who was thought to be a
relative of his.
The son of Juha and
Maria Panula boarded Titanic with his
mother and four brothers at South Hampton. They were on the
way to join their father
in Coal Centre, Pittsburg, Pennsylvaia.
None of traveling family members would
make it to Pennsylvania.
They would all be victims in the sinking of Titanic
Having been one of the first
of the bodies to be
recovered, Eino was a small, fair hair child. The discovery of his body
touched the soldiers in such a way that when the body was
not claimed by
any relatives, they took the small childs coffin to
Fairview Lawn Cemetary
in Halfax and they paid for a momument to be
placed there in
the childs memory. His was the only burial service to be held on May 4,
1912 at this cemetary.
In July of 2002, about 91
years after his March
10, 1911 birth , the remains
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of Eino were positively
identified. Magda
Schleifer who was 68 years old, told a story of her
Grandmothers sister
who had, along with her sons, died in the Titanic
tragedy. Magda was
asked to give a small sample of her blood so that DNA
tests could be
done on the remains of the unknown child, she agreed to
help by having
the test done.
When the grave was opened, all
that remained was
a small wrist bone and three teeth. Inside the
coffin was a small
copper pendant which which had been inscribed with the
words "Our Babe".
It is thought that the soldiers had it put there.
The small bone was
enough to do the DNA testing and FINALLY
the unknown child was given a
name. Eino Viljami Panula had been identified.
<>An eyewitness account by a
Titanic survivor who
related a story to Magda's Grandmother says that
Maria Panula and
her son Eino had been given the opportunity to
board one of the
lifeboats and Maria did not accept because she didn't want to leave any
of her sons behind.
Magda and her family have
decided to leave Eino's
remains where they are. Magda says "The child has
been looked after
here, his memory lives in Halifax. Why change that?"
No longer is Eino listed as:
NO. 4 - MALE - ESTIMATED AGE,
2 - HAIR, FAIR
CLOTHING - Grey coat with fur
on collar and cuffs;
brown serge frock; petticoat; flannel garment; pink woolen singlet -
brown
shoes and stockings.
NO MARKS WHATEVER
PROBABLY THIRD CLASS
After checking the lists on my
site, I didn't find
any mention in any of them of this family. I have added
them to the list
of the third class passengers and the list of
Titanic's victims.
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