Marriages that stand the test of time are always inspiring – but this couple takes longevity to a whole new level.
Not only have they been able to stay together for 70+ years, the way they met makes their union even more remarkable.
Here’s a Great Way to Spread the Love This Valentine’s Day
96-year-old, John Mackay, a WWII Scottish soldier first laid eyes on his 92-year-old wife at a dance hall just days after the young woman was liberated from Auschwitz concentration camp.
Mackay’s wife, Edith Steiner, a Hungarian Jew was rounded up by Nazis months prior to being set free and was one of the million Jews forced into one of Hitler’s death camps, but thanks to her husband, Steiner was saved.
Mackay’s commando team liberated dozens of Jewish prisoners from Nazi guards in Poland over sixty-years ago and one of the faces that happened to be in the bunch was 20-year-old Steiner and her mother.
Unfortunately, Steiner was one of the only women in her family to survive the gas chambers and the reign of Josef Mengele’s ‘Angel of Death,’ a time when the Nazi enthusiast tried horrific experiments on Jews.
However the two didn’t meet until several days later at a local village dance celebrating the liberation of Jews from the camps.
Once Mackay spotted Steiner, he knew he wanted a dance. But of course like most 23-year-old men he didn’t know how to approach her, so he sent a friend over.
Auschwitz survivor and the soldier who saved her celebrate their 71st Valentine's Day together https://t.co/SWnR6Vj6ZR pic.twitter.com/QLGMSr330n
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) February 14, 2017
However, Steiner declined his friend’s request to talk to the WWII soldier and made sure Mackay came over to get his first dance.
So he did.
After that, the rest is history. The couple wed on July 17, 1946.
But the incredible story doesn’t stop there – none of this would’ve happened if Mackay hadn’t been able to escape captivity. The daughter of the couple, Sharon Mackay, told DailyMail.com that her father was captured in North Africa during the first few years of WWII and escaped an Italian war camp by dressing up as an Italian soldier.
To evade capture, he had to keep moving for 18 months. His future wife was only 20 when she was rounded up by the Nazi’s with the rest of her family.
After returning from the war, they married and went on to have two children and run a hotel. Now they live in a retirement community together.
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