‘I was waiting for you’: Lovers separated in Auschwitz reunited after 72 years

Both were fortunate prisoners in that they had special skills that spared them from the fates of many others who were murdered or died of starvation. Spitzer was a gifted graphic designer who worked out of a shared office, mixing dyes and painting stripes on women’s uniforms. Wisnia, who was initially assigned to remove the bodies of prisoners who died by suicide, was found to be a talented singer and was often asked to perform for the guards and German SS officers.

In their unusual positions of privilege, the pair were able to rendezvous in secret locations and be intimate with one another, a rare situation in camps that were strictly separated by gender. Wisnia remembered that Spitzer had taught him a Hungarian song during their time together. As rumors of the Soviets closing in on the German Army began to spread, however, many were shipped out to other camps, sent on death marches, or killed.

Wisnia left the camp first and was able to escape a death march after striking an SS officer with a shovel and running away. He hid in a barn until he was discovered by the 101st Airborne of the U.S. Army. They gave him a gun and uniform and took him under their wing, employing him as a translator and civilian aide.

Spitzer was one of the last to leave the camps and also miraculously survived a death march by blending in with other locals fleeing the Red Army. Sometime later, she made her way to Feldafing, an all-Jewish displaced person’s camp.

The couple had planned to meet in Warsaw after the war ended, but Wisnia had chosen to pursue his new life as an American, not a European refugee. After he received his U.S. Army uniform, he said, “I became 110 percent American.”

Both married other people not long after the war and moved around to different parts of the world. Wisnia emigrated to the United States, landing in New York City, where his aunt and uncle lived in the Bronx. He had lost nearly all of his immediate family in the Holocaust. Spitzer and her husband Erwin Tichauer spent the majority of their lives working for humanitarian causes, which took them to Peru, Bolivia, Indonesia, Australia, and eventually the U.S. After some time in Austin, Texas, they settled in New York City.

Wisnia, who eventually settled with his wife and family in Pennsylvania, heard through a mutual acquaintance that Spitzer, now Tichauer, was living in New York. He attempted to arrange a meeting, but she did not show up. He later learned she felt it inappropriate since she was married.

Finally, in 2016, Wisnia made another attempt to contact his former lover and confidant. This time, he had an important question to ask her: Was she the reason that he survived his time at Auschwitz? Taking two of his grandchildren, Wisnia met “Zippi” at her New York home. She was bedridden and suffering from a variety of ailments but still recognized Wisnia despite their 72 years apart. “Her eyes went wide, almost like life came back to her,” Wisnia’s grandson Avi said. “It took us all aback.”

Eventually, Wisnia asked the question that he had pondered for over 70 years. Had she interceded to spare him the fate of so many others at Auschwitz? Holding up five fingers, she said, “I saved you five times from bad shipment.” She had another secret to share, however, that Wisnia was not expecting. “I was waiting for you,” she said. She had been in Warsaw as they planned after the war. Wisnia had moved on to his dreams of being an American hero.

Wisnia, 93, lives in Pennsylvania with his memories of a lover and savior at Auschwitz. He published a memoir, One Voice, Two Lives: From Auschwitz Prisoner to 101st Airborne Trooper, in 2015. Zippi died last year at age 100. During their last meeting, she asked Wisnia to sing for her. He held her hand and sang her the Hungarian song she had taught him in the camp.