Nicholas Winton

Nicholas Winton

the man who saved 669 children and forgot about it

Done by Anait Adamova

On 1 July 2015, sir Nicholas Winton died. His occupation is Finance. But this is not what he is known for. For 49 years, he kept a secret, thanks to which he was later nicknamed " the British Schindler.

He was born in 1909 in London and lived to be 106 years old. He also died in the small town of Slough in great Britain. Winton came from a family of German Jews who moved to England in the early twentieth century.

During the Christmas holidays at the end of 1938, a group of young people, as usual, were going to spend the holidays in the Swiss Alps, but one of Winton's friends suddenly called him and said that he could not join the company, he had to go to Prague on important business. Winton decided to join a friend, changed his Christmas plans, and also went to Prague.

during the war, the British Government began to help the Czech population solve refugee problems. Trains were organized to take people to Britain and other European countries. But most often it was an adult working-age population. The fact that it was necessary to save Jewish children was not obvious at that time – in the Czech Republic there were no concentration camps, nor, in fact, the occupation.

Although in November, Kristallnacht already took place, and 25,000 Jews in Germany and Austria were arrested. And Nicky Winton realized, or rather felt, that it was dangerous for these children to stay here. He volunteered to save them. What he was able to organize alone was later called the "Czech Kindertransport".

When he arrived in Prague, Winton checked into a hotel. It was here that he set up his office, where a string of people came asking for help. Nicholas had to make lists of the children most in need of help – orphans, or those whose parents had disappeared or been arrested, the sick, the poor. Winton made daily rounds of the refugee camps around Prague and compiled lists. But making a list wasn't the hardest part. In order for the children to go to England, they had to find foster families. The children could not be taken anywhere, someone had to wait for them, someone had to take care of them. These foster families were also sought by Nicholas Winton. He advertised in the Newspapers, called orphanages, and put children on farms. In addition, a Deposit was required for each child, and Winton paid it out of his own money.

On March 14, 1939, the first "Winton" train left Prague. There were 20 children riding in it. Czechoslovakia was still an independent. But the next day, March 15, the Nazi troops took it. In spite of this "Kindertransport" were not prohibited. Children continued to be taken out. The train went through Germany and Holland, from there-across the English channel - to great Britain. The entire route is approximately 1500 km. Children arriving at the London station were met either by Nicholas himself or by his mother, who actively helped her son. Nicholas Winton was able to organize 7 more such trains. In total, he took out 669 children!

The ninth train was due to leave Prague station on September 1, 1939, with 250 children already sitting in it. Parents and relatives were standing on the platform, waving their hands to the children, and the children were crying. But early in the morning, the Nazis had already begun to bomb Poland, and world war II began. The train did not go to England, the children were released from the cars, they joyfully rushed to their parents…

The events of 1939 Winton did not attach much importance, you can say that he almost forgot about them. There were other things to do. For example, he was actively involved in the construction of a nursing home near London. And in 1988, his wife discovered old notebooks. They had long lists of names.

Winton told his wife about the pre-war events 49 years later! The couple began to think about what to do with the records – they were undoubtedly of historical interest.

Elizabeth Maxwell sent letters to all pre-war addresses from Winton records and received about 200 letters in response, 60 letters were from the "children" themselves. Many of the "Winton children" were alive. Most of them were never able to be reunited with their blood parents, who were killed, tortured, and burned in gas chambers by the Nazis. All their lives they were looking for the person who kept them alive. And so he was miraculously found.

In February 1988, the article "Lost children" about the "Czech Kindertransport « was published. And on the evening of the same day, Nicholas Winton was invited as a spectator to the Studio of the popular English talk show "life Itself". Unexpectedly for Winton, the host of the program began to tell his story, and then asked the "children" saved by Nicholas to stand up. It turned out that in the Studio are sitting those who he was able to take out of Prague. This program was an incredible success, the name of Nicholas Winton became known to many British people. Letters to Nicholas came from all over the world, and his "children" were not only in England, but also in Europe and America.

For saving 669 children, Nicholas Winton was nominated for the Nobel peace prize. In 2002, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him and he became sir Nicholas. In 2014, at the age of 105, he was awarded the highest order of the Czech Republic – the Order of the White lion.

His figure can be seen at the Prague railway station, where there is a monument to Winton-the figure of a man with two children.

Nicholas Winton: "If he had left one day earlier, 250 children would have been saved. Terrible feeling. But who does not have regrets and sadness when you think about the past war?"