Auschwitz Survivor & Her Rescuer Are Spending Their 71st Valentine’s Day Together

You better grab your tissues. On Valentine's Day, it's common to see articles about heartwarming meet-cutes. But you know what's really unusual and has us crying today? The love story of an Auschwitz survivor and the soldier who helped rescue her. Yep, you read that right. During World War II, John Mackay and Edith "Eci" Steiner met after she was liberated in Poland, the Daily Mail reports.

At the time, he was a 23-year-old Scottish soldier who helped rescue the Jewish prisoners, who were being marched to their impending death at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. She was a 20-year-old Hungarian Jew who had lost everyone but her mother during her time in the Auschwitz concentration camp. That night, Mackay had to overcome his shyness and ask Steiner for a dance during a village festivity celebrating the rescue. What followed was a sweet romance that has lasted an entire lifetime. The couple married on July 17, 1946, and returned to Scotland. There they had two kids, and owned the Atholl Arms Hotel in the town of Pitlochry until their retirement. The couple's family eventually expanded to include seven grandchildren and five great-grand-children. Mackay and Steiner are now settled in the Bupa Balcarres Care Home in the city of Dundee. "He is always checking in to make sure Eci is happy and the pair still refer to each other as 'sweetheart' on a daily basis. Their devotion to one another is clear to anyone who spends even a short time in their company," Pamela Shaw, the activity coordinator at the home, told the Daily Mail. Today marks the 71st Valentine's Day Mackay and Steiner are spending together. So in case you had any doubts: Yes, you can find love — even in the darkest times.