Two cousins who believed the other had been killed in the Holocaust were reunited in a highly emotional meeting in Tel Aviv last Thursday.

Morris Sana and Simon Mairowitz were childhood friends in Romania, but fled the country after a Nazi-allied coup overthrew the government in 1940.

The men, whose tearful reunion was filmed by their relatives, believed the other had died in a Nazi death camp.

They had been put in touch by Mr Sana’s daugher, who realised Mr Mairowitz was still alive after getting in touch with some relatives on Facebook.

In the video of the meeting, posted on Facebook by Mr Sana’s granddaughter, Leetal Ofer, Mr Sana can be seen walking into a hotel room where he catches sight of Mr Mairowitz and breaks in to a tearful smile, holding his arms out.

The cousins said they were glad to see each other after 75 years, but only Mr Sana seemed to recognise his old friend at first. 

Mr Mairowitz can be heard telling Mr Sana: “Seventy-five years you waited… It’s a long time. But we’ve got each other now.”

Family members who were present begin to cry as the two men hold on to each other before sitting down together.

“This is one of the most moving things I’ve ever seen and I’d love to share it with you,” Ms Ofer wrote in the post in which she shared the video.