For more than 70 years, Abram Belz searched for his younger brother, Chaim. Abram last saw his sibling in 1939, when he helped Chaim escape into the Soviet Union from Poland's Piotrków Trybunalski ghetto.
Abram never saw Chaim again.
Last month, after decades of searching, the brothers’ families reconnected. It was an emotional, bittersweet moment made possible by technology, the help of strangers -- and a stroke of luck.
Jess Katz, Abram’s granddaughter, explained to ABC News how desperately Abram wanted to find Chaim.
Abram wrote countless letters, and even sought the help of Polish and Russian officials and several nonprofits, including the Red Cross. But Chaim couldn't be found.
The brothers were separated soon after the Nazi invasion of Poland. Although Abram had helped Chaim escape, as the eldest son, he felt obliged to stay behind with his parents.
Abram described the next few years during a 1990 testimonial for Steven Spielberg’s USC Shoah Foundation project:
Less than a year after we moved into the ghetto, my grandfather dropped dead in the house. Two weeks later, my 24-year-old sister died of tuberculosis. My uncle who was 26-years-old was shot, his wife and baby were sent to Treblinka where they were gassed to death by the Nazis. The rest of my family was exterminated. My parents were sent to Treblinka and were killed in the gas chambers.
According to The Washington Post, Abram and a cousin were the only two among 60 relatives to survive the concentration camps.
Abram immigrated to the United States after the war and died in 2011 at the age of 95.
"[Abram] was my hero," Katz, who lives in New Jersey, told ABC News. "He had nightmares every night about the Holocaust, even when he was in his 90s he would have them. But he would still wake up and find a way to be the best grandfather and the best father. He had a lot of struggles and a lot of pain, but he still found some kind of way to live a life full of love and kindness."
Determined to continue Abram’s search for his brother, Katz turned to JewishGen.org, a free Jewish heritage website, to find new leads. That search led her to Jewish Facebook groups and Russian forums.
"I used Google Translate for everything because I don't speak one word of Russian," Katz wrote in a blog post.
Then, one morning last month, she received an unexpected message.
"I woke up to an email in Hebrew from a woman who told me that she thinks she found my [grand uncle's] son. I was in complete disbelief," Katz said.
That man was Evgeny Belzhitsky. He was, as Katz soon found out, Chaim's son.
“We were shaking, we were crying, we couldn’t believe it,” Katz said.
Chaim survived the war and built a life in Sakhalin Island, Russia. Like his brother, he searched for years for his family, to no avail.
Chaim died in 1970 after battling a brain tumor, never knowing about Abram's survival and life in America. But the brothers' families are now doing their best to make up for lost time.
On April 20, the two families connected via Skype.
"We sat and told stories, we cried, we shared pictures -- we spoke for four hours and still have so much to cover. We cannot believe that we found each other," Katz wrote in her blog.
Katz said she hopes her family's story will help other Holocaust survivors find their long-lost loved ones.
"We want to be able to show that there is still hope and online tools that can be utilized to reconnect," Katz wrote on Facebook.
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.