BREAKING NEWS: Sir Nicholas Winton - 'Britain's Schindler' Who Saved Hundreds of Jewish Children From Nazi Concentration Camps - Dies aged 106
- Sir Nicholas saved more than 650 children from death at hands of Nazis
- He arranged trains to carry children from Nazi-occupied Prague to Britain
- His exploits just before the outbreak of total war in Europe made him a hero to the Czechs and have earned him the nickname 'Britain's Schindler'
Daily Mail UK, 1 July 2015
Sir Nicholas Winton who saved hundreds of Jewish children from the Holocaust in 1939 has died aged 106, his family have confirmed.
Dubbed 'Britain's Schindler' for his heroic efforts, he almost single-handedly saved more than 650 children from death in Nazi concentration camps.
Battling bureaucracy at both ends, Winton arranged trains to carry the children from Nazi-occupied Prague to Britain.
Sir Nicholas Winton who saved hundreds of Jewish children from the Holocaust in 1939 has died aged 106, his family have confirmed
Dubbed 'Britain's Schindler' for his heroic efforts, Sir Nicholas almost single-handedly save more than 650 children from death in Nazi concentration camps
Nicholas Winton with one of the children he rescued from Czechoslovakia before the Second World War
He then kept quiet about his exploits for a half-century - the secret of his selfless efforts undiscovered until 1988 when wife Grete found an old briefcase in the attic containing a scrapbook and in it lists of the children, their parents' names and the families who gave them a home.
His son-in-law Stephen Watson said Sir Nicholas died peacefully in his sleep at Wexham Hospital in Slough, with his daughter Barbara and two grandchildren at his side.
His exploits just before the outbreak of total war in Europe made him a hero to the Czechs and he was honoured by the Czech Republic for his work only last year.
Taking into the account the children of those he saved, there are estimated to be around 6,000 people in the world today who owe him their lives.
To this day they call themselves 'Nicky's children'.
Born in London in 1909 to parents of German Jewish descent, Winton himself was raised as a Christian.
He was a 29-year-old clerk at the London Stock Exchange when a friend contacted him and told him to cancel the skiing holiday they had planned in late 1938 and travel instead to Czechoslovakia.
Horrified by the treatment of the Jews under the Nazi occupation, he set about organising eight evacuations of the threatened children on the Czech Kindertransport train.
He advertised in newspapers for foster homes, organised residency permits from the immigration office in the UK, and persuaded the Germans to let the children go.
Tearful Sir Nicholas Winton is reunited with Holocaust evacuees;
Children saved by Nicholas Winton. Taking into the account the children of those he saved, there are estimated to be around 6,000 people in the world today who owe him their lives
Sir Nicholas Winton meeting some of the (now grown up) children he helped save at Liverpool Street Station, in 2009
Through the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia (BCRC) he worked around the clock to find British families willing to put up the then large sum of £50 and agree to look after the children until they were 17.
In the months before the outbreak of World War II, eight trains carried children through Germany to Britain.
In all, Winton got 669 children out.
It was Sir Nicholas's greatest regret that a final train of 250 children, due to depart at the start of September 1939, was prevented from leaving when Poland was invaded. All are believed to have died along with 1.1 million of the Czech Jews at Auschwitz.
Although many more children were saved from Berlin and Vienna, Winton worked almost alone.
He later said:
'Maybe a lot more could have been done. But much more time would have been needed, much more help would have been needed from other countries, much more money would have been needed, much more organisation.
'I wouldn't claim that it was 100 percent successful. But I would claim that everybody who came over was alive at the end of the war,' he was quoted as saying in the book 'Into the Arms of Strangers.'
Winton served in the Royal Air Force during the war and continued to support refugee organisations.
But for almost 50 years, Winton said nothing about what he had done before the war.
'There are all kinds of things you don't talk about, even with your family,' Winton said in 1999.
'Everything that happened before the war actually didn't feel important in the light of the war itself.'
Winton's wife persuaded him to have his story documented, and it became better-known after the BBC tracked down dozens of 'Nicky's Children' and arranged an emotional reunion.
Quote:
THE UNASSUMING HERO TO WHOM THOUSANDS OWE THEIR LIVES
Born in London in 1909 to parents of German Jewish descent, Nicholas Winton himself was raised as a Christian.
He was a 29-year-old clerk at the London Stock Exchange when a friend contacted him and told him to cancel the skiing holiday they had planned in late 1938 and travel instead to Czechoslovakia.
Horrified by the treatment of the Jews under the Nazi occupation, he set about organising eight evacuations of the threatened children on the Czech Kindertransport train.
Through the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia (BCRC) he saw what was going on and decided that he had to help get the children to safety before the stormtroopers annexed the whole country.
Returning to London he organised eight trains from Prague to London known as the Czech Kindertransport operation and helped to find foster families for the children when they arrived in England.
He worked around the clock to find British families willing to put up the then huge sum of £50 and agree to look after the children until they were 17.
It was Sir Nicholas's greatest regret that a final train of 250 children, due to depart at the start of September 1939, was prevented from leaving when Poland was invaded. All are believed to have died along with 1.1 million of the Czech Jews at Auschwitz.
The secret of his selfless humanitarian efforts was not discovered until wife Grete found an old briefcase in the attic with lists of children and letters from their parents.
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In February 1988 his family took the scrapbook to Esther Rantzen's That's Life to make a programme about what he had done.
He was invited along to the studio for the programme's broadcast, ostensibly to check it for accuracy.
Unbeknownst to them both he had been sitting in the audience next to Vera Gissing, one of the women his Kindertransport had brought to safety and their tearful on-screen reunion was the first of many.
He was finally reunited with hundreds of the children - including Labour peer Lord 'Alf'' Dubbs and film director Karel Reisz - in an emotional gathering for 5,000 descendants of the 'Winton children'.
Honours then followed. Having already been made an MBE in 1983 for his services to learning disability charity Mencap, he was knighted by the Queen in 2003 'for services to humanity', with the monarch telling him: 'It's wonderful that you were able to save so many children.'
In 2010 he was awarded a Hero of the Holocaust medal at 10 Downing Street.
The Czech government has repeatedly nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in recent years, most recently 2013.
In October 2014 he returned to Prague to be admitted to the Czech Order Of The White Lion.
A statement from the Rotary Club of Maidenhead, of which Sir Nicholas was a member, said:
'It is with much sadness I have to report that Sir Nicky Winton died peacefully early this morning.
His son-in-law Stephen Watson said Sir Nicholas died peacefully in his sleep at Wexham Hospital in Slough, with his daughter Barbara and two grandchildren at his side
Sir Nicholas Winton, with his Knighthood in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace, after he received the honour from Queen Elizabeth II for services to humanity
'Nicky's daughter Barbara and two grandchildren were with him when he died and Barbara said that he was aware of their presence.'
It added that he was 'probably the oldest active Rotarian in the world'.
Home Secretary Theresa May, Maidenhead's MP, said Sir Nicholas was a 'hero of the 20th century'.
She said: 'Against the odds, he almost single-handedly rescued hundreds of children, mostly Jewish, from the Nazis - an enduring example of the difference that good people can make even in the darkest of times.
'Because of his modesty, this astonishing contribution only came to light many years later. So many people owe their lives to Nicholas and it was fitting that, in his later years, he finally received the recognition he deserved.
'Maidenhead is rightly proud of all that he did, and we must ensure that his legacy lives on by continuing to tackle anti-Semitism and discrimination wherever it arises.'
Prime Minister David Cameron said: 'The world has lost a great man. We must never forget Sir Nicholas Winton's humanity in saving so many children from the Holocaust.'
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, who was Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013, called Sir Nicholas a 'giant of moral courage' and 'one of the heroes of our time'.
He said: 'He was 'the British Schindler', all the more impressive for thinking that there was nothing special about what he did, seeking neither honour nor recognition.
'Our sages said that saving a life is like saving a universe. Sir Nicholas saved hundreds of universes. He was a giant of moral courage and determination, and he will be mourned by Jewish people around the world.'
World Jewish Relief, a UK-based international Jewish charity, paid its own tribute, saying: 'Wishing long life to the family of Sir Nicholas Winton who has passed away at 106. His legacy, saving 669 children from the Nazis, lives on.'
Daniel Hannan, MEP for South East England, added: 'Of the six-and-a-half million people in my constituency, Nicholas Winton's achievements were the most humbling.'
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RIP Nicholas
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