On 19 May 1909, Nicholas Winton, who is famous for saving hundreds of children during the Holocaust, was born in England.
While Winton’s parents were of German-Jewish descent, they converted to Christianity before his birth.
In 1938, Winton visited a friend in Prague and saw the horrific conditions refugees were living in as they attempted to flee Nazi-occupied countries. Inspired by the Kindertransport, which rescued German and Austrian Jewish children, Winton and a small group of volunteers organized a similar mission for Czechoslovakia. Winton raised money for the mission but covered the remaining costs himself.
The first transport of twenty children departed from Prague on 14 March 1939 by plane, just hours before German forces occupied Czech territories. Survivors described how children pleaded not to be sent away and parents wept at the choices they were forced to make.
Subsequent rescues were conducted with children boarding a train that traveled through the Third Reich, transferring to a boat to Essex, and then riding the British rail to Liverpool Street Station in London. There, host families would meet the children who would remain in their care for the duration of the war.
Seven of the eight trains successfully made it to England. On 1 September, 250 children, the largest group, was set to depart when Germany invaded Poland and Britain declared war on Germany, ending rescue missions. The 250 children were never heard from again, and it is believed they perished in concentration camps.
Records indicate that Winton rescued 669 children, approximately 560 of whom were Jews. By the end of the war, nearly all the rescued children were orphans, as their parents had perished in concentration camps. The survivors call themselves “Winton’s Children.”
For nearly fifty years, Winton said nothing about his role in rescuing Jewish children. In 1988, his wife found a scrapbook containing travel documents, pictures, and records detailing the rescue. He reluctantly agreed to let his wife share the scrapbook with a Holocaust historian and the story was quickly picked up by the press.
That year his story became public when he was featured on a TV program. After sharing the list of children he saved, the show’s host asked the audience, “Is there anyone in the audience who owes their life to Nicholas Winton?” Everyone seated in the rows behind him promptly stood up. The children, then in their 60s, were unaware until that moment how they were saved.
Vera Gissing, a child Winton rescued, later described the reunion as “so wonderful, just terribly, terribly touching.” In the following years, Winton met with hundreds of the children who became close friends of his.
When asked why he undertook such a risky mission, Winton explained, “One saw the problem there, that a lot of these children were in danger, and you had to get them to what was called a safe haven, and there was no organization to do that.... Some people revel in taking risks, and some go through life taking no risks at all.” Winton was a reluctant hero and maintained that anyone in his position would have done the same thing. His approach and righteous actions drew comparisons to Oskar Schindler.
Winton was honored internationally with a multitude of encomiums including honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II, an American congressional resolution, letters of appreciation from world leaders, a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, as well as various statues, streets, and schools named in his honor. His scrapbook is on display at Yad Vashem.
Winton passed away in England at the age of 106 in 2015.
