WWII Vet Reunites With Man He Saved From Concentration Camp

You’ll want to have the tissues close by for this heartwarming story.

During World War II in 1945, Sid Shafner and several of his fellow soldiers helped liberate 30,000 prisoners from Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany. Fast forward 71 years later, Shafner was able to reunite with several of the men he saved thanks to a special program from the FIDF (Friends of the IDF) called “From Holocaust to Independence.”

The reunions, which took place in Poland and Israel, were especially meaningful for 90-year-old Marcel Levy. Levy was one of the men Shafner helped rescue and the two men have kept in touch ever since. However, they have not been reunited face-to-face in over two decades.

“I’ve been in touch with him all these years,” Shafner told 9NEWS. “Through postcards, greeting cards, and now email on the computer.”

The men were very excited and eager to meet in person once again. The reunion of the two men was super emotional and very beautiful. Perhaps the most touching moment of the reunion came when Levy shared: “You know, everything that I have today is because of you. You saved my life. Because you had the patience to speak to me, to talk to me.”

“Don’t praise me,” said Shafner. “If it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else.”

At the reunion, Shafner also had the opportunity to meet some of Levy’s family members, including a few of his 11 grandchildren.

“All our life, we heard about, we dreamed about you,” Levy’s daughter shared with Shafner. “We know that because of you we have this nice family. And we are very appreciative and we thank you.”

Shafner and Levy previously reunited in 1995 and they hope to keep the reunions going.

“I want to see him again in maybe 10 years, 15 years,” said Shafner.

During the trip, Shafner also had the opportunity to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.

Check out more on the reunion below.