Sir Nicholas Wynton

The Second World War is not only terrible crimes and massacres, it is also the time of real heroes who, at the risk of their lives, committed brave and noble deeds. One such knight is, until a certain time, an unknown British subject - Sir Nicholas Winton.

When the horror of Nazism and the drama of war had only just got its sinister outlines, this man carried out an operation to remove children from fascist-captured Czechoslovakia to England. Organizing this evacuation, Nicholas Winton in 1939 saved nearly 700 Jewish children. Thanks to his decisive actions, he wrested them from the paws of Nazism, thereby saving him from the terrible fate that he had prepared - death in concentration camps from hunger and torture.

Hero of our time

Sir Nicholas Winton, known in certain circles as the "English Schindler," was for a long time little known: because of his inherent natural modesty, he practically did not advertise his deed, and moreover - never considered it a feat. And only 44 years after the end of World War II, in 1988, the world public learned about the heroic deed of this man.

This happened during the broadcast of the next release of the popular broadcast on the BBC. It was there, on English television, Sir Winton met with some children whom he saved from a painful death in the distant 1939.

These are adults and in most cases self-sufficient people still refer to themselves as "Nika's children".

Trip to Prague

In the winter of 1939, Nicholas Winton, being at that time an ordinary stockbroker, responded to his friend's offer to visit Prague. Important is the fact that two months earlier Hitlerite Germany had subjected the Sudetenland to occupation, thereby making a step towards seizing the entire territory of Czechoslovakia.

Winton followed with great interest everything that happened in the world on the eve of the war, as he was very fond of politics. The reason he decided to go to Prague was a strong desire to be in the center of events and to see what was happening with his own eyes.

By that time, the situation in the country was seriously complicated, and the policy pursued by the Nazis towards the Jewish population had become quite aggressive. In Czechoslovakia there were many Jews who a year before fled there from Austria and Germany during the mass annihilation of the Jewish population by the Germans.

Preparation for evacuation

A large number of children awakened in Winton special feelings and understanding of the need for their salvation. By and large, at that time, there was nobody to do it. Winton independently, without the help of any organizations, managed to create a program that allowed to take out hundreds of children from the occupied country.

His active work, he began by opening a small store, where he met with his parents. They were ready to save the lives of their children in the hands of strangers. Nicholas diligently compiled lists of children and worked out a plan for how to export them.

In his unrestrained desire to meet with a man who can give hope of salvation, people went to him in droves. Such mass gatherings attracted the attention of the secret police and the Gestapo. In order to somehow gain time, Winton had to weaken his attention to his person by bribing the Nazis.

First train

On March 14, the first group of children traveled from the capital by train, it happened literally a day before the full occupation of Czechoslovakia.

After some time, Nicholas returns to England and develops a special plan to save children. In addition, he managed to find foster families who guaranteed care for the child before the age of majority of the latter.

In England, Nicholas was engaged in the collection of financial resources, and also simultaneously solved bureaucratic issues that made it difficult to implement his rescue operation. Thanks to his efforts, a deposit of 50 pounds sterling was paid for each adopted child. This money was needed to pay for the road in case of the child's return home.

Last route

For all the time from Prague to England went 8 trains, but only 7 reached the destination, thus taking out 669 children.

The last squad, in which there were about 250 children, was to go on September 1, 1939 . However, it was on this day that Germany entered the territory of Poland. The Second World War began. As a result, all borders were closed, and a further share of passengers remains unknown to this day. Most likely, they were sent to concentration camps, where they died. Many of these children had brothers and sisters who, thanks to the self-sacrificing actions of Sir Winton and his associates, had been saved earlier.

Life after the war

When the war was over, some children did not want to leave England and stayed there. However, most of all still returned to their homeland. Also, a large number of them settled in Israel and the United States. To date, they are already elderly people.

By the way, there is an opinion that when the train with children arrived in London, Nicholas did not meet passengers personally, but was away and just watched.

According to research, to date, there are approximately 6,000 descendants of "Nika's children" around the world.

Public activity of Nicholas Winton

At the end of the war, the UN was created, and Nicholas Winton dealt with refugees. He directed his activities to resolve issues related to property illegally seized by German invaders. His activity led to horrible finds, among which were many boxes of gold teeth that the Germans wrenched from people before sending them to the gas chamber.

Sir Nicholas Winton conducted the documentation of such finds, photographed them, described and created a kind of card file. Much later Nicholas directed his efforts to charity. He paid special attention to helping elderly people.

Public acceptance

An interesting fact is that until 1988 nobody knew about what role he played in the evacuation of children from Czechoslovakia. Quite casually, his wife found an album with photographs, as well as various documentation that had a direct relationship to saving children.

After a while this album was on the air company BBC. The company's management wanted to remove the program about this man. During its preparation, a massive search campaign was launched, as a result of which 80 people were saved.

During the talk show, the channel's management invited Nicholas to the studio as a spectator. The intrigue appeared when the program's host told the story of his evacuation of children. At the end of her narrative, she appealed directly to the rescued people and asked them to stand up. Under the touch of applause rose more than 20 people.

In 2001, a book on the history of Winton's life was written - "Nicholas Winton and the Salvation Generation". It is noteworthy that one of the co-authors of the work was a girl he had saved - Vera Gissing.

The book became almost a bestseller, and each of the rescued children or members of their families considered it their duty to buy a copy of this work.

Nicholas Wynton: The Movie

Having carefully studied the information received, it was decided to remove the film about these events.

The circumstances of that gloomy time formed the basis of the plot of the Slovak-Czech painting, which was called "The Might of Good". Nicholas Winton played himself in this movie.

This film received good reviews and international recognition, and was also awarded various awards at international film festivals.

The film premiered on October 6, 2002. Film director - Matej Minach.

Nicholas Winton: fate

Many of Winton's rescued children have succeeded in life. Among them there is a director, a baron, and also a Nobel laureate.

The work of Sir Nicholas Winton was appreciated by his contemporaries. He was installed several monuments in the Czech Republic, England and the United States.

In 2008, the Czech Republic nominated Nicholas Winton for the Nobel Peace Prize.

In addition, Czech astronomers named in his honor one of the small planets.

The English queen in the early 2000s highly appreciated and commended Nicholas's services not only to Great Britain, but to all mankind, giving him the knightly title.

When Sir Winton turned 105 years old, the children he rescued and their descendants gave him a large cake, topped with 105 candles, and the Czech government honored with the highest award of the country - the Order of the White Lion.

The most frequent question, which he was asked both in private conversations, and at official receptions boiled down to what prompted him to decide on such a dangerous step. In response to which he serenely looked at the interlocutor and replied: "But someone had to do it."

Sir Nicholas Winton, of course, lived an amazing life. July 1, 2015, at the age of 106, the heart of a noble man stopped, who, despite all the circumstances and overcoming his own fear, did his utmost to save 669 children from the deaths.