ZAKA in Georgia

ZAKA is abbreviation for Zihuy Korbanot Ason, which means literally: Disaster Victim Identification in Hebrew (the organization's full name is ZAKA - Identification, Extraction and Rescue - True Kindness).  ZAKA was founded in the 1990s. The organization participates in rescue operations and the identification of human remains after mass, deadly incidents, irrespective of their causes. The organization first appeared in Israel in 1990s. Today ZAKA has become one of the most well-known organizations in the sphere. ZAKA branches can be found in many countries, including Russia.

Recently a branch has been founded in Georgia. The idea came to life due to the
Chabad movement envoy in Georgia rabbi Meir Kozlovsky. He has invited ZAKA employees to conduct a four-day training programme for 25 volunteers, representing the Georgian Jewish community. The volunteers were trained in immediate first-aid treatment at the site, the norms of of treating the bodies of the victims in accordance with the Jewish tradition and  to overcome the aftermath of crisis situations by working with victims.
The last day of  the training  was devoted to practical work. The scenario presupposed the explosion in a synagogue in the mid of the Saturday prayer. The volunteers received solid notion of how a similar crisis situation could develop, and how religious commandments and norms are combined with the norms rescue operations. They also learned how to keep in touch with the state structures and rescue services.  After the training, the volunteers received ZAKA vests and diplomas.

Certainly, the volunteers of the Georgian branch of ZAKA are not going to confine their activity to the Jewish community – they will be ready to go to any place in Georgia to render necessary help. ZAKA activists usually drive motorcycles. This makes it possible for them to appear at the site in the first minutes after the incident.  It was because of this fact that  Moscow ZAKA volunteers were one of the  first to appear on the site after the act of terror in Domodedovo.

Volunteers of the Israeli branch of ZAKA actively work all over the world.  Their participation in the rescue works after the earthquake in Japan has deserved high appreciation. Notably, in Japan, ZAKA activists worked side by side with the Iranian rescue brigade. They say they got on well.