Sir Nicholas Winton
Sir Nicholas Winton is a holocaust hero to many with an extraordinary story to tell but was not shed light on for many decades. In 1938, Nicholas Winton would take a trip to Prague and end up rescuing over 650 Jewish children at the age of just 28. The Nazis were invading Czechoslovakia right after the infamous Munich agreement was announced and Winton decided to help 669 poor Jewish children with a train ride to Britain with food and a home to stay in. Knowing that Hitler’s armies were taking over bits and pieces of Europe he decided to go to Czechoslovakia to see if how he could help the refugees.
On October 1st, 1938, loads of Nazi troops began to invade the Czech capital, Prague. Some Jewish parents were fortunate enough to be able to send their children abroad and out of Czechoslovakia. Others were desperate for a place to go including families and children whose parents were already taking away. This is where Nicholas Winton, a young Londoner sought his opportunity to do something good for these stranded Jewish children. He had been seeing news articles and reports from Prague and other parts of the country on the dangers from the Hitler’s armies.
Sir Nicholas Winton was born in London, England on the 19th of May, 1909 and died peacefully in his sleep on the 1st of July, 2015. Before going out to Prague at age of 28, Winton was a successful stockbroker living a good life filled with sports. For 50 years, Nicholas did not tell a soul on what he did for all those children during the eve of the second world war and the children had no idea who their holocaust hero was. Finally revealing to the world what he had done back in 1938, he was called the “British Schindler” as well as the “Czech Kindertransport” to the news in 1988. He was later knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003 for, “services to humanity, in saving Jewish children from Nazi Germany occupied Czechoslovakia” – The London Gazette. As well as being awarded the highest honor of Czech Republic, the Order of the White Lion on the 28th of October, 2014 by Czech President, Milos Zeman. Nicholas Winton has been on numerous talk shows and news channels explaining his extraordinary story to the world at home. His acts of bravery of kindness will never be forgotten and will always be considered as a Holocaust hero around the globe. His inspirational mindset will result in him being quoted for generations to come such as, “I have a motto that if something isn’t blatantly impossible, then there must be a way of doing it.” said during his 60-minute segment.
