Sibling Holocaust Survivors Reunited after 60 Years

Written by Mason Booth, Staff Writer, RedCross.org

November 22, 2002 — Staring at the remote Ukrainian mountain, for one moment Ann Freed questioned whether they would make it up the steep slope. Then she looked at her wheelchair-bound mother, 84-year-old Holocaust survivor Maria Maksymiuk Harkuscha, and her doubt vanished.

After 60 years, Maria Maksymiuk Harkuscha is reunited with her bother Elko after the two were forced into different labor camps during the Holocaust.

“If my mother could survive the Holocaust, I figured we could survive that mountain,” Freed said.

At nearly 1:00 a.m., Freed’s husband, brother, and several villagers from a small Ukrainian town picked up her mother’s wheelchair and carried her over the winding mountain paths in the dark of night, all the while searching for their final destination. Many exhausting hours later, they saw it.

“We had been walking for what felt like days,” Freed recalled, “when all of a sudden we saw the light to his house. I turned to my mother and said ‘Look mom. Your brother lives here.’”

The sight was one Maria Harkuscha had dreamed of since July 23, 1942, the day she was forced from her home in a small Ukrainian village into a seemingly endless series of labor and refugee camps. A decade later, Maria escaped to America with her small daughter, not knowing if her family survived the horrors of World War II.

“She knew her parents had probably passed away, but she always longed to know what happened to her three sisters and brother,” said Freed. “She could never find peace of mind. So I decided to do something to give her mind peace, and called the Red Cross to see if they could help.”

Red Cross Finds “Needle in a Haystack”

Two years ago, Freed learned from a friend about the American Red Cross International Family Tracing Services, by which the organization utilizes its global network of sister societies and partners to locate family members torn apart by war.

”Tracing is one of the hardest things we do and it can take a long time, but when we locate someone, it can mean all the difference in the world” said Deborah Cooper, a Red Cross caseworker at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter.

After being contacted by Freed, Cooper opened a case at the American Red Cross Holocaust and War Victims Tracing and Information Center in Baltimore, Md., the main clearing house for searches related to World War II.

Ann Freed, her husband and her brother carried Maria across terrain unpassable by vehicles to reunite her with Elko.

”At that point, we wait,” Cooper said. “I called constantly to check on the status of the request, and in May a letter from the Ukrainian Red Cross was forwarded to me by the Tracing Center, stating they had found her brother, Elko Maksymiuk.”

Initially, Freed couldn’t believe her good fortune.

“It’s like finding a needle in a haystack,” said Freed. “He lived in a very remote and tiny Ukrainian town, with limited communications. It was a miracle.”

On June 23, 2002, exactly 60 years to the date after she was taken from her family, Maria received a letter from her long-lost brother.

“We learned he was very sick and that he had had a stroke, so I organized a trip to see him,” Freed said.

Organizing a trip to the Ukraine was easier said than done, however. First Freed had to arrange the necessary papers for her mother to travel abroad. With her uncle growing sicker by the day, she knew time was of the essence.

”I live in New Jersey, so I called Congressman Robert Andrews," Freed recalled. "His office facilitated the paperwork and got an approval for the trip. Then we had to figure out how to get from point A to point B while traveling through the region. Luckily, a travel agent planned that out, taking into consideration my mother’s wheelchair, and we were on our way.”

Lifetime of Worries Laid to Rest

On Oct. 5, Freed and her family departed for the Ukraine. Over the next several days, they traveled endless miles, over barely passable roads and up steep inclines, culminating in their mountain hike to reach Elko’s home.

”Elko was bedridden, and his condition had gotten very bad. But when he saw my mother, they just sat there, holding hands and crying. My mother kept repeating ‘My brother’, ‘My brother’,” Freed recalled.

During the visit, Freed’s family learned that while Maria’s mother and siblings had passed away, Elko had a daughter he wanted them all to know.

“I’ve been in touch with his daughter, and we plan on meeting soon,” said Freed. “Even though the trip was only a few days, its rewards will last a lifetime. While Elko is her only surviving sibling, my mother knows that they did not die in the labor camps, and that has finally given her peace.”

Shortly after their return to the United States, Maria Harkuscha fell and broke her hip, then contracted pneumonia while hospitalized.

She passed away on Thursday (Nov. 21).

To contribute to the tracing efforts and other important services of the American Red Cross, you can make a secure online credit card donation by visiting our online donation form. Or you can call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Donations can also be mailed to your local Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.

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