Betty Grebenschikoff thought her childhood closest friend from Germany had died for nearly eight decades. She last met Ana Mara Wahrenberg in 1939, when they were both nine years old. Before their families were forced to flee the Holocaust during World War II, the girls exchanged a heartbreaking hug in a Berlin schoolyard.

Grebenschikoff and Wahrenberg thought it was their last meeting, but on November 5, after 82 years apart, they saw each other in person for the first time. Both women have reached the age of 91!

“It was very emotional,” Wahrenberg said, echoing her sentiments. It felt as if we had never been apart.” For years, the Holocaust survivors searched databases and sought information from anyone who might know something about the other’s whereabouts. They were unsuccessful because both had changed their names later in life.

“Her name is now Ana Maria.” “She remembers me as Ilse Kohn, my previous name,” Grebenschikoff, who now lives in Florida, added. Fortunately, the USC Shoah Foundation, a non-profit organization that creates and preserves audiovisual recollections of Holocaust survivors, found parallels between Grebenschikoff’s and Wahrenberg’s stories. This finding triggered their long-awaited reunion.

Grebenschikoff, one of 20,000 European Jews who settled in Shanghai, eventually discovered what had happened to her long-lost best friend. Ehrenberg and her family fled to Santiago, Chile, in November 1939, where she still resides today.

Last November, the Shoah Foundation, the Florida Holocaust Museum, and the Interactive Jewish Museum of Chile arranged their virtual reunion via Zoom call. The two women conversed in German and introduced their families to one another. They also stated that they would meet in person. They followed through on their commitment a year later.

“We just had this sense, like we genuinely belonged together,” they said, hugging for the first time in nearly eight decades. They had planned to meet in Florida in September for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. However, the epidemic compelled them to postpone their in-person reunion. By November, Wahrenberg felt more at ease traveling and booked a flight with her son and his wife.

Grebenschikoff greeted Wahrenberg in her hotel room, saying it was “as if we had seen each other yesterday” and “so comfortable.” “It was quite special that two people could still love each other after 82 years,” Wahrenberg continued. The best friends, both widowed, were inseparable for four days. They went shopping together, shared meals, and talked for hours.

“We’re not the girls we used to be when we were 9, that’s for sure, but we kept giggling like little kids,” Grebenschikoff recalled of their reunion. “It was such a joy for both of us.” Their reunion would be incomplete without gifts, of course. Wahrenberg presented Grebenschikoff with a Barbie doll dressed in a Chilean costume, as well as a framed image of herself and some jewelry.

Grebenschikoff, on the other hand, presented Wahrenberg a small heart-shaped sculpture, which she also purchased a duplicate of for herself so that they each have the exact same thing. “It’s something for her to remember me and something for me to remember her,” Grebenschikoff explained. She keeps the doll and photographs in her bedroom. Grebenschikoff’s favorite memory of their time together was simple: “being close to each other and holding hands while walking.” It just seemed right.”

Over lunch, Wahrenberg’s favorite activity was reminiscing about previous times and introducing their families to one another. Wahrenberg’s son and Grebenschikoff’s daughter are now also pals. For the past year, the two women have had a phone call date every Sunday, during which they relax on their respective patios and share their morning coffee.

Grebenschikoff plans to visit Wahrenberg in Santiago in the future. Reflecting on their journey, she said their story proves that “good things can happen out of a bad experience.” Watch the pair’s interview with NBC News in the video below to learn more about their story.