The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Rescued Auschwitz survivor dies aged 92
Doting husband who freed her from concentration camp was by her side
A woman who was rescued from the horrors of the Second World War’s most notorious concentration camp by her future husband has died.
Edith “Eci” Mackay passed away in Balcarres Care Home in Broughty Ferry with her husband of more than seven decades, Second World War veteran John, by her side.
The 92-year-old Holocaust survivor died on Monday, June 26 following a bout of pneumonia.
The story of her long, loving marriage to John captured the hearts of thousands of people earlier this year as they enjoyed their 71st Valentine’s Day as a married couple.
A commando in the London Scottish 1st Battalion, John Mackay helped rescue a group of Jewish prisoners from Auschwitz as they marched with Nazi guards to another concentration camp. His future wife, Eci, was among them. Born Edith Steiner in the Székesfehérvár region of Hungary, she lost 39 members of her family during the holocaust.
At a dance organised in a village hall following the rescue by the British troops, John was too nervous to ask Eci for a dance, sending a friend across to ask in his stead.
Not impressed, Eci sent the pal back with orders that John should ask her to dance himself – which he did.
The couple fell in love and “doted” on each other throughout their 71-year marriage.
John and Eci tied the knot in Scotland in July 17 1946 and referred to each other as “sweetheart” every day.
John, now 96, was born in Glasgow and raised in Brighton.
The couple lived in Edinburgh, Liverpool and Gleneagles before settling in Pitlochry, where they ran the Atholl Arms Hotel. John also served as a local councillor for many years. In 1997 they moved to Broughty Ferry. They have two children, Sharon and Peter.
There are seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Sharon said: “My mum was an extremely private person, very, very kind and quiet. “Mum was just a mum. “She was a seamstress in her youth. She was very quiet, very reserved, very kind and very family orientated.”
She added that her mum “never spoke about” her time in Auschwitz, but that the story of her parents meeting each other was “amazing”.
“I think she had Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and really struggled. She really had a lot of nightmares”, said Sharon.
“It was 39 members of their immediate family they lost (during the Holocaust), aunties and uncles.”
However she added that her father was “lost” without his beloved wife.
She said: “He is absolutely lost. Thankfully they got to spend the last year together. He cared for her.”
Eci only found out about one of her cousins, who had also survived the Holocaust and fled to Brazil, in February this year, after long-lost family members got in touch.
Balcarres Care Home’s deputy manager, Vera Scrimgeour, said: “Sadly she passed away last week. It was natural causes.
“All her family was with her, John was with her as well. It was sad for them.
“He just totally doted on her and she doted on him, it was so sad.”
She was very quiet, very reserved, very kind and very family orientated. SHARON MACKAY