| |
In 1988 Greta Winton found her husband Nicholas’ old scrapbook tucked away in a suitcase in the attic of their home in the quiet town of Maidenhead, UK. They had been married for 40 years and he’d never once mentioned the story behind his collection of 1939 photos, telegrams, letters and lists.
The contents of the scrapbook proved that her husband was a hero, but this humble man had chosen to keep it hidden from his wife and the rest of the world.
Sir Nicholas Winton’s scrapbook
Prior to World War II, Hitler’s troops occupied parts of Europe and aid groups organized Kindertransports (long trains ferrying thousands of Jewish children out of the reach of the Nazis).
In 1938 Nicholas Winton, was working as a stockbroker in London. He was asked by a friend to travel to Prague to examine the plight of Czechoslovakian Jewish children who were in danger of being exterminated by the Nazis. |
Once Winton saw the refugee camps, he returned to Britain and immediately started raising money to save the children. In his spare time he wrote letters, found foster homes in the UK, acquired visas and built a team to organize the train trips.
Throughout the first half of 1939, eight trains carried 669 children to safety in England. The last train, with 250 children on board, was due to leave on September 1, 1939, the day war broke out.
German troops marched in and the children were taken off the train, never to be seen again.
From the 669 children that Winton rescued, there are more than 5,000 descendents living today.
|
Sir Nicholas Winton with rescued child |
Sir Nicholas Winton
|
Winton, with his wife’s encouragement, began to share his story and
through That's Life, a BBC TV show which aired shortly after his wife’s attic discovery, the world learned of Winton's heroic efforts.
Winton was invited to be a member of the show’s audience and at one point during the program, his scrapbook was shown and his accomplishments were revealed.
The host of the program then asked if there were people in the audience who owed their lives to Winton and if so, to stand.
Over 20 stood up and applauded this humble hero.
On December 31, 2002, Winton received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his services to humanity and in 2008 was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sir Nicholas Winton, (or Nicky as he prefers to be called), turns 101 on May 19 this year.
He still wears a ring given to him by some of the children he saved.
It is inscribed with a line from the Talmud, the book of Jewish law. It reads: "Save one life, save the world."
|
Joseph Schlesinger was one of Winton’s children.
–photo courtesy Joseph Schlesinger |
Joe Schlesinger, former CBC reporter, was one of the Winton children rescued from the Nazis.
“The people Nicholas Winton helped save are now all in their seventies or late sixties, grey-haired grandparents most of them,” Schlesinger said.
“But no matter how long they live, they are, and always will continue to be, Nicky’s children.”
On May 6, 2010, at Toronto’s Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue, Schlesinger will be speaking at a dinner in Winton’s honor. Visit www.beby.org
To learn more about “Nicky” visit: www.powerofgood.net. |
|
|
