REUNION 60 YEARS IN MAKING : SISTER THOUGHT BROTHER DIED IN WORLD WAR II.

Byline: Associated Press 

Tears welled in Rivka Bromberg's eyes as the younger brother she thought had died in a Nazi death camp walked toward her.

``Sister,'' Solomon Bromberg said simply, and the two embraced for the first time in 60 years.

The siblings learned of each other's survival three months ago. On Tuesday, Solomon arrived in Israel from Moscow, in time for breakfast with the sister he had not seen since 1936.

The two, both white-haired and walking with canes, held each other in a long disbelieving embrace as they reunited at Rivka's apartment. Solomon kissed his sister's hand three times.

``I can't describe the feeling,'' he said, holding Rivka's hand. ``I want to cry, but that wouldn't be enough.''

In 1936, Rivka - then 19 - bid her family goodbye and left Poland for a new life in British-ruled Palestine. After World War II, she learned that her parents had died in the Treblinka death camp and thought her three brothers and sister had been killed, too.

But Solomon had escaped to Russia, where he settled outside Moscow, also believing he was the family's sole survivor.

Last year, Solomon's son Alexander, who was working with an Israeli company in Russia, asked a colleague about locating missing relatives in Israel. The colleague contacted Israel's Jewish Agency, which tries to reunite family members separated during the war.

In April, Rivka received a telephone call with the news that Solomon was alive and living in Russia.

Solomon's wife Anastasia, his sons Alexander and Michael and their wives all accompanied Solomon, now 76, on the trip to Israel.

Hugging and kissing, Solomon and Rivka looked each other up and down.``You were beautiful,'' Solomon said to his petite 79-year-old sister.

``I still am,'' giggled Rivka, who was dressed for the occasion in a black dress trimmed with white lace.

The siblings' emotional reunion quickly turned into a noisy family gathering. Not only had Rivka and Solomon found each other, but their families discovered new uncles and aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews.

``This is amazing, I see them here and it's hard for me to believe,'' said Sharon Feingold, Rivka's granddaughter, who picked up the newfound relatives at Israel's Ben Gurion airport.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Rivka Bromberg, 79, sits with sibling, Solomon, 76,who she met for the first time in 60 years in Rehovot, Israel, on Tuesday.

Associated Press