Shalom Koray never knew his real name or his birthday. As a toddler was saved from the streets of a burning Warsaw ghetto during World War II as the rest of his family was murdered by Nazis in Poland.
He lived with no idea of his past.
Until Wednesday, when Koray walked off an airplane in South Carolina on Wednesday (July 10) and into the arms of Ann Meddin Hellman. Her grandfather was the brother of Koray's grandfather.
“I feel like I’ve given somebody a new life. He's become my child. I have to protect him and take care of him,” Hellman said, beaming and giving Koray another hug as they waited for his luggage so they could start several days of parties with dozens of other relatives at Hellman's Charleston home.
The two long lost relatives found each other through the modern magic of DNA science and a genetic test Koray was given by a psychologist who studies children orphaned in the Holocaust.
"Ann did a DNA test and had it on MyHeritage," said Daniel Horowitz, an expert genealogist at MyHeritage. "Shalom had a DNA test on MyHeritage. MyHeritage found out that they are second cousins."
Koray, who speaks mostly Hebrew, couldn't stop smiling even if he didn't quite understand the camera crews, conversations swirling around him, signs and all the hubbub.
Hellman said she was not only gaining a new relative, she was glad that he finally knew some of his extended family after a lifetime.
"He's giving us the satisfaction of knowing that he has a family that he never knew existed and has been wanting for 83 years," said Hellman.
