Reunited

JERUSALEM -- For six decades, Hilda Shlick thought her brother Simon perished in the Holocaust with several other relatives.

But thanks to some online investigating by her grandkids, Shlick has been reunited with the brother she last saw in 1941.

The family was living in Romania back then, and they were separated when the Nazis invaded. Shlick, 10 years old at the time, and a sister managed to escape, while the others stayed behind.

The rest of the family -- parents Henia and Benzion, and brothers Simon, Mark, Karol and Eddie -- stayed in Romania, finding refuge in a basement.

Shlick now lives in Israel, and during a chat this summer, her grandsons learned enough to hit the Internet and start their search. They started a search using the database of Holocaust victims at Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial. That search ended with the discovery of brother Simon Glasberg living in Canada. He flew to Israel where, despite the 65 years of separation, he recognized his sister immediately.

It turns out that another brother also lives in Canada. He's too ill to go to Israel, but has a son who lives there -- a half-hour away from his long lost aunt.

The fate of one sister, Pepi, remains unknown. She disappeared and is presumed to have been killed by the Nazis. Simon Glasberg, his brothers and parents emigrated to Canada after the war ended. Shlick and her sister moved to Estonia, where Bertha died in 1970.

Hilda Glasberg (now Hilda Schlick) was born in 1931 in Chernowitz, Romania.

Yad Vashem spokeswoman Estee Yaari said this was only the second known case of living siblings discovering each other through the database.