Shalom Korai steps off an airplane in South Carolina. He is now around 83. But he has never known his real name or his birthday.  

What is known of Mr. Korai’s story starts with him alone. He was on a street in Warsaw, Poland. The Jewish neighborhood burned. The year was 1943. A policeman scooped the toddler up. He took him to a convent. Nuns cared for the boy and several other orphaned children.  

That was during World War II. The rest of Mr. Korai’s family was killed by Nazis from Germany.  

Mr. Korai grew up and lived in Israel. He knew nothing about his past. He never felt a hug from a blood relative.  

Until now.  

When Mr. Korai gets off the plane, Ann Meddin Hellman rushes to hug him. Her grandfather was the brother of Mr. Korai’s grandfather. She and Mr. Korai are second cousins. 

Ms. Hellman’s ancestors came to the United States decades before the Holocaust. Mr. Korai’s family stayed behind in Poland. His parents ran a family business.  

The reunion would have been impossible without modern DNA science. DNA test company MyHeritage offered Mr. Korai and other Holocaust orphans DNA testing in the summer of 2023. A few months later, Ms. Hellman got a message. It said she had an unknown second cousin. She asked MyHeritage for a photo and other information. 

“The picture gave it away,” she says. Mr. Korai looks just like her brother! 

Mr. Korai speaks mostly Hebrew. So he brought a translator along. He can’t stop smiling.  In quieter moments, he looks his “new” family over. 

“He’ll get to see himself in them in a way he has never gotten to see himself before,” Ms. Hellman says. “And we get to give a family to someone who never thought one existed.” 

Why? God knows all our names and stories, even when people forget them. He “settles the solitary in a home.” (Psalm 68:6) 

Shalom is a Hebrew word with great meaning for both Jews and Christians. It appears in the Old Testament approximately 250 times. You’ll often hear that “shalom” means “peace,” and that’s true. But it’s much more than just a lack of turmoil. The word actually means complete and perfect peace—perfect friendship and well-being with God, self, neighbor, and creation. When Christ returns, every believer will know shalom!