Recently, a loving couple from Melbourne, Australia shared with the world their incredible love story that, quite literally, has been in the making for 70 years. In an exclusive interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Sigi (91) and Hanka Siegreich (93), shared the timeless tale of how their partnership came to be.
(Source: ABC News)
Apparently, the two experienced a classic case of love at first sight. While that may sound romantic, the circumstances were far from ideal. In fact, they first laid eyes on each other while imprisoned at the Czestochowa Nazi concentration camp in Poland during World War II. Sigi recalls not having much of an interest in meeting girls at age 21, but on Dec. 31, 1944 (18 days before the camp was liberated by the Russians) he saw Hanka for the very first time, and had a change of heart.
(Source: ABC News)
“When I saw her, the whole world was turning around me. I saw a pair of beautiful eyes and I heard bells ringing . . . There was a pair of beautiful eyes looking at me, with a smile like I never saw in my life.” Sigi told ABC. After speaking to her, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and won her over. “At that time, the people in the camp were terrible . . . he was very gentle.” Hanka recalls.
Learn more about Sigi and Hanka’s incredible love story and how their relationship flourished over seven decades! Click next for more!
While in the concentration camp, Sigi was forced to work in a munitions factory to make bullets for the Nazi army. He had purposely been making the bullets too small for the guns in order to sabotage the Nazi’s weapons and overall cause. When the Gastapo found out, Sigi was forced to go into hiding. The only person to know of his location was his lover Hanka.
“She was the only person I could trust my life with,” he said in his interview with ABC.
Hanka, after finding out about his location, would risk her life to bring him bread and give him a blanket on freezing cold nights. Finally, Hanka was able to visit a second time in one day to tell Sigi the camp had been liberated and they were finally free.
(Source: ABC News) Sigi and Hanka holding their daughter, Evevelyn, in 1946.
On their 50th wedding anniversary the two lovebirds finally had a formal wedding ceremony in their daughter’s backyard. Today, they have many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Their great-grandson attends Bialik College where they are collecting 1.5 million buttons to represent and honor the children who died during the Holocaust. Sigi donated 180 buttons to represent his family members that passed away during the Holocaust. Of his wife he said, “She charmed me. That was that, the rest was history.”
Thankfully, no married couples nowadays will be forced to express their love under such dour circumstances as these two. However, it just goes to show you that some couples, no matter what hardships they are faced with, are destined to spend their lives together and start a family. The power of love will always win, and this loving couple’s relationship is a fine example!
What do you think of their epic love story, moms and dads? Care to share your most amazing love stories?
[H/T] ABC News.AU
READ: The 8 C’s of a loving marriage
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