For Holocaust survivor Leon Gersten, Hanukkah and Thanksgiving had a special meaning this year.

He was reunited on Wednesday at JFK airport in New York with Czeslaw Polziec…

…the Polish man whose family kept him hidden from Nazis during World War II.

"I'm very glad to see you!"

"I'm delighted to see you!"

(SOUNDBITE) (Polish) (ROUGH TRANSLATION) CZESLAW POLZIEC, MEMBER OF POLISH FAMILY WHO HELPED GERSTEN DURING WORLD WAR II, SAYING:

"I cannot believe that I am here. I am very happy that after 69 years of separation I can finally meet my friend."

This is where Polziec's parents hid Gersten and members of his family for two years…

…in the attic of this old house in Zawadka, Poland -- until the Soviets liberated the area in July of 1944.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) LEON GERSTEN, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR, SAYING:

"We never forgot the fact that you, and of course your parents, are the ones who saved our lives. And the only reason that we are a