A moving reunion between two men who changed each other’s lives took place this week.

In 1945 American soldier Sid Shafner helped rescue and liberate approximately 30,000 prisoners from a Nazi concentration camp. Last week he was reunited with Marcel Levy, one of the survivors he helped.

It was an emotional reunion, as Levy, 90, thanked Shafner for saving his life, saying “everything I have today, I have because of you.”

Watch a clip from the emotional reunion between the two men below

The two men met when Levy, who was 17 at the time, managed to escape from Dachau concentration camp. He came upon Shafner and his unit in the woods, and took the soldiers back to Dachau.

They became especially close as Levy - who had lost his whole family in the Holocaust - stayed with the American soldiers after the rescue mission, serving as their cook.

The two men met on an Israeli Airforce Base as part on Shafner’s 10-day journey through Poland and Israel to meet other survivors. He told CBSN, who were there to film the reunion that, as the last surviving soldier from his unit, “my regret is, I shouldn’t be the only one celebrating and taking the trip. These fellows should be with me, but they’re not”.

The men have promised to stay in touch via email until they are able to meet again.

You can watch the full interview with veteran Sid Shafner here: