During one of the worst periods of time in history, 23-year-old John Mackay and 20-year-old Edith Steiner (from the Székesfehérvár region of Hungary) met. In fact, Mackay saved Steiner from Auschwitz in 1944. Both of them were unaware that they would end up spending the rest of their lives together though.
Mackay escaped from an Italian prisoner of war camp in Tobruk, Libya and was part of a Scottish commando unit that liberated Steiner (who is known as Eci), as well as many others from the Jewish concentration camps during the horrifying Holocaust.
Steiner, along with everyone else, was at the camp at the same time as Josef Mengele, also known as The Angel of Death — a SS officer and physician notorious for his cold-blooded experiments. Edith lost 39 family members during the World War II Holocaust. Tragically, only she and her mother survived.
To celebrate getting out, there was a dance. During the dance, Mackay asked a friend to ask Steiner if she would dance with him, to which she responded yes, but on the condition that Mackay asked her himself.
So Mackay abided and mustered up the courage to ask Steiner for dance. The rest was history.
The couple married on July 17, 1946. After going back to Scotland, the two owned the Atholl Arms Hotel in Pitlochry. And then they finally retired to Dundee. The couple also share two children together, Sharon and Peter.
Two years ago, in 2017, the couple was widely covered by news outlets after celebrating their 71st Valentine’s Day together (that is a long time!). So naturally, it was deserved to be celebrated — especially a love that blossomed from such a traumatic event!
There is some sad news though… Just a couple of weeks before their wedding anniversary, Steiner passed away at age 92, luckily with Mackay right by her side the whole way through.
While Steiner passed away, she lived a very long life. Plus, this story is so heartwarming, it proves that real, long-term love truly does exist! It also proves that no matter how traumatic of an event you have been through, if the right person comes along, anything is possible. It is still indeed to lead a long and happy life once you come out of the darkness.
Newsner.com shared a photo of the two side by side, which sparked some of the most beautiful reactions from people all over the world. Garnering over 35k likes, people commented with encouraging words like “beautiful” and “lovely.”
“Amazing and wonderful,” one person wrote. “No doubt about the sincerity of loving and caring hearts who have done the right things. They deserve every blessing that comes their way.”
Another person wrote: “Great example of 2 people surviving disaster together and remaining committed to one another in love. Wish we could all have lifetime marriages.”
“What a life and stories that could be told. May the blessings outweigh the horrors endured. God bless both of you on this Anniversary. Happiness always!”
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