DNA test reunites Holocaust descendant with 50 relatives around the world

Adriana Turk grew up in New Zealand believing she was the last surviving member of a Jewish family devastated by the Holocaust. Then, in 2025, a MyHeritage DNA test revealed that she had 50 relatives around the world, including family members in Israel, Germany and Brazil.

Turk’s German Jewish father, John (Hans) Turk, escaped Nazi Germany in 1937. After the war, he discovered that his mother and most of his family had been murdered during the Holocaust. He rarely spoke about his Jewish background or what had happened to his family, leaving Adrianna with little knowledge of her European Jewish ancestry.

“This has been such a revelation for me,” Turk told The Times of Israel while visiting her third cousin Raanan Gidron, who resides in Tel Aviv.

Turk said her father, who married a non-Jewish New Zealander woman, rarely discussed the family’s Jewish background or the Holocaust.

“He never spoke of it, and I never asked,” Turk recalled. “I just knew that his whole family – his mum, sister, brother-in-law, their children – were all murdered.”

A turning point came in 2024 when Turk’s only sibling, Julian, died in New Zealand.

“I felt this hole inside me,” she recalled. “It was a deep sadness,” she added, believing that she was now the only surviving member of her father’s Jewish family.

As Turk became increasingly interested in her Jewish European ancestry, she decided to take a MyHeritage DNA test to learn more about her family background.

She said she thought at the time, “What have I got to lose?”

The results revealed a family history Turk had never known. She discovered that her great-uncle, Max Gusdorf, was murdered at the Sobibor extermination camp in 1943. But she also learned that three of his children survived the war.

One remained in Germany, another moved to Brazil and the third immigrated to Israel, where he fought in the Jewish state’s War of Independence in 1948.

Hans Reuven Rudolph, who changed his name to Reuven Gidron in Israel, went on to help Holocaust survivors and played a role in tracking Nazi criminals after the war.

“I didn’t know any of this,” Turk admitted. “My father didn’t want any part of this story,” she added.

Turk subsequently traveled to Germany, where she met relatives and learned more about her father’s family. She then traveled to Israel, where she was welcomed by her third cousin Raanan Gidron.

During her visit, Turk toured Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust remembrance center in Jerusalem, and visited tourist sites across the country. Her reunion with her Israeli relatives has also attracted media attention.

“We are running day to day, with all kinds of spontaneous requests from the press and family obligations,” Gidron told The Times of Israel.

For Turk, however, the reunion has been about more than discovering distant relatives. She said meeting family members she never knew existed has transformed her understanding of her own identity and history.

“I feel like I’ve been born again through this experience,” Turk explained. “Before I did the DNA test, I was overcome by sadness. Now, being surrounded by all these wonderful cousins has been such a revelation."