A middle-aged brother and sister who last saw each other when they were children in the Auschwitz concentration camp and believed each other had been murdered had an emotional reunion in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, northeast England.
Harry Nagelsztain, 56, was at Newcastle Airport yesterday to greet his 58-year-old sister Manya Kornblit who flew in from Oklahoma after hearing he was still alive. Until a few days ago, he, too, had thought his sister was dead.
The couple, who were born in Hrubieszow, Poland, were separated in Auschwitz in 1943, when Harry was 15 and his sister 17. After being released by the Americans from another camp, Harry settled in Newcastle and became a building contractor. He married an English woman and had two sons and two daughters.
Manya, originally, Matel, emigrated after the war to Oklahoma with her sweetheart, Meyer Kornblit, another, camp survivor. They, too, married, raised a family and prospered.
THE TRAIL THAT LED TO THE REUNION
She only suspected her brother might be still alive a few days ago as a result of research into the family history by her son, Mike. Last month Manya met a cousin in Israel who recalled that he had heard from Harry shortly after the war in a letter which had mentioned Newcastle. She hunted through the Newcastle telephone directory and found her brother’s name. A long distance call quickly confirmed that it was her long-lost brother.
Harry’s children were at the airport yesterday to meet their newly discovered relations. Manya arrived with her husband, and their son Mike and his wife. At a reception at the airport hotel, Harry said “I recognized her as soon as I saw her coming off the plane. All my life I thought I had no family. Now we have 40 years to catch up on.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
