THEY last saw each other when he was just seven years' old. So Ed Miliband and his long lost aunt Sarah Ben Zvi had plenty to catch up on. The Labour leader and his wife Justine met her and other relatives for a traditional Friday night meal at a kibbutz near Tel Aviv last night. It was an emotional reunion for the Labour leader and the aunt he had not seen since he was seven years old . Mr Miliband and his wife Justine met with relatives for a traditional Friday night meal . Mrs Ben Zvi, left, is a cousin of the Labour leader's mother, Marion, and grew up with her in Poland before the Nazi invasion . Mrs Ben Zvi, 84, grew up with the Labour leader's mother Marion, her first cousin, in the town of Czestochowa in Poland. However, when the Nazis invaded in September 1939, life - until then comfortable - was turned upside down. German troops commandeered Marion's parents' steel factory which employed dozens of people, and torched Jewish schools and synagogues, before deportations began in 1942. Mr Miliband's mother, sister and grandmother fled, and sheltered by nuns in a convent - at a location she has never revealed - escaped persecution, at great personal risk to their protectors. Sarah and her mother were among those who were deported, when the Nazis, in September 1942, murdered around 2,000 Jews on the spot and sent another 40,000 to concentration camps. Sarah, only a teenager, survived. After the war the family were briefly reunited at the kibutz Mr Miliband visited last night. They then separated again, with Mr Miliband's mother heading to London in 1947, thanks to a charitable organisation, and eventually attended the London School of Economics, where she met his father Ralph. Mr Miliband's father had fled Nazi-occupied Belgium and served in the Royal Navy during the war. Sarah and her family stayed in Israel, which the Labour leader is visiting on a three-day tour. This included a visit on Thursday to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem - where he was presented with new research about Marion's father, believed to have died at Auschwitz. He is one of more than 60 members of Mr Miliband's family believed to have been killed in the Holocaust. Mr Miliband sees Israel as having a special place in his heritage due to the sanctuary it has given his family . The Leader of the Opposition looked through old family photo albums as he reunited with long-lost relatives . Mr Miliband's three-day trip around Israel is meant to be a mixture of personal and political occasions . When the Second World War broke out, Mr Miliband's father, Ralph, and grandfather, Sam, made their way to England. However, his grandmother Renee remained in Brussels to look after her young daughter, Nan. Renee eventually fled the city in 1942, after a gruelling interrogation by the Gestapo on the whereabouts of her husband and son. She was taken in by a family friends Maurice and Louisa Vos and she stayed on their farm for the rest of the war. After the war the family split up with some members, including Mr Miliband's mother, heading to London, while the rest settled in Israel. Sixty members of Mr Miliband's family were killed during the Holocaust and he yesterday visited the Yad Vashem Museum, which remembers those who lost their lives in the atrocity . A number of Miliband's family members came to live in Israel shortly after the Second World War .
The Labour leader met Sarah Ben Zvi, 84, during his three-day trip to Israel .
He met relatives for a traditional Friday evening meal before the Jewish Sabbath .
Mrs Ben Zvi is the cousin of Mr Miliband's mother, Marion .
The tour of the country encompasses personal and political occasions .
THEY last saw each other when he was just seven years' old. So Ed Miliband and his long lost aunt Sarah Ben Zvi had plenty to catch up on. The Labour leader and his wife Justine met her and other relatives for a traditional Friday night meal at a kibbutz near Tel Aviv last night. It was an emotional reunion for the Labour leader and the aunt he had not seen since he was seven years old . Mr Miliband and his wife Justine met with relatives for a traditional Friday night meal . Mrs Ben Zvi, left, is a cousin of the Labour leader's mother, Marion, and grew up with her in Poland before the Nazi invasion . Mrs Ben Zvi, 84, grew up with the Labour leader's mother Marion, her first cousin, in the town of Czestochowa in Poland. However, when the Nazis invaded in September 1939, life - until then comfortable - was turned upside down. German troops commandeered Marion's parents' steel factory which employed dozens of people, and torched Jewish schools and synagogues, before deportations began in 1942. Mr Miliband's mother, sister and grandmother fled, and sheltered by nuns in a convent - at a location she has never revealed - escaped persecution, at great personal risk to their protectors. Sarah and her mother were among those who were deported, when the Nazis, in September 1942, murdered around 2,000 Jews on the spot and sent another 40,000 to concentration camps. Sarah, only a teenager, survived. After the war the family were briefly reunited at the kibutz Mr Miliband visited last night. They then separated again, with Mr Miliband's mother heading to London in 1947, thanks to a charitable organisation, and eventually attended the London School of Economics, where she met his father Ralph. Mr Miliband's father had fled Nazi-occupied Belgium and served in the Royal Navy during the war. Sarah and her family stayed in Israel, which the Labour leader is visiting on a three-day tour. This included a visit on Thursday to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem - where he was presented with new research about Marion's father, believed to have died at Auschwitz. He is one of more than 60 members of Mr Miliband's family believed to have been killed in the Holocaust. Mr Miliband sees Israel as having a special place in his heritage due to the sanctuary it has given his family . The Leader of the Opposition looked through old family photo albums as he reunited with long-lost relatives . Mr Miliband's three-day trip around Israel is meant to be a mixture of personal and political occasions . When the Second World War broke out, Mr Miliband's father, Ralph, and grandfather, Sam, made their way to England. However, his grandmother Renee remained in Brussels to look after her young daughter, Nan. Renee eventually fled the city in 1942, after a gruelling interrogation by the Gestapo on the whereabouts of her husband and son. She was taken in by a family friends Maurice and Louisa Vos and she stayed on their farm for the rest of the war. After the war the family split up with some members, including Mr Miliband's mother, heading to London, while the rest settled in Israel. Sixty members of Mr Miliband's family were killed during the Holocaust and he yesterday visited the Yad Vashem Museum, which remembers those who lost their lives in the atrocity . A number of Miliband's family members came to live in Israel shortly after the Second World War .
Labour leader and his wife Justine met her and with relatives for a traditional Friday night meal . Mrs Ben Zvi, left, is a cousin of the Labour leader's mother, Marion, and grew up with Zvi, 84, grew up with the Labour leader's mother Mr Miliband's three-day trip around Israel is meant to be a mixture of personal and political