Nicholas Winton

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Sir Nicholas Winton MBE

Sir Nicholas Winton in Prague in October 2007
Born 19 May 1909 (1909-05-19) (age 100)
United Kingdom
Occupation Humanitarian

Sir Nicholas George Winton, MBE (born 19 May 1909) is a Briton who organised the rescue of 669 mostly Jewish children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II in an operation later known as the Czech Kindertransport. Winton found homes for them and arranged for their safe passage to Britain.[1]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Nicholas Winton was born to parents of German-Jewish origin.[2] In 1907, the family moved from Germany to Hampstead, England, and changed its name from Wertheim to Winton. In 1923, he transferred to Stowe School, which had just opened.[3] He left without matriculating, attending night school while volunteering at the Military Bank. Some time later he left for Hamburg where he began to work at Behrens Bank, and then for Wasserman Bank in Berlin.[2] In 1931, he left for France where he worked for the Banque Nationale de Crédit in Paris and earned a banking qualification. After his return to London he worked as a stockbroker.

[edit] Humanitarian work

Before Christmas 1938, Winton was about to fly to Switzerland for a ski vacation when he decided to travel to Prague instead to help a friend who was involved in Jewish refugee work.[2] There he single-handledy established an organization to aid Jewish children from Czechoslovakia separated from their families by the Nazis. He set up an office at a dining room table in his hotel in Wenceslas Square.[4] In November 1938, shortly after Kristallnacht, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom had approved a measure that would permit the entry of refugees younger than 17 years old into England if they had a place to stay and a warranty of 50 pounds sterling was deposited for a return ticket for their eventual return to their country of origin.[5] Winton found homes for 669 children, many of whose parents perished in Auschwitz.[6] Throughout the summer, he placed advertisements seeking families to take them in. The last group, which left Prague on 3 September 1939, was sent back because the Nazis had invaded Poland, marking the start of World War II.[6] During the war he served in the Administrative and Special Duties Branch of the Royal Air Force, initially as an airman, rising to sergeant by the time he was commissioned as an acting pilot officer on probation on 22 June 1944.[7] He was promoted to war substantive flying officer on 17 February 1945.[8] He retained his commission until 19 May 1954 when he relinquished it, retaining the rank of flight lieutenant.[9]

Winton kept his humanitarian exploits under wraps for many years until his wife Greta found a detailed scrapbook in the attic in 1988.[10] The scrapbook contained lists of the children, including their parents' names, and the names and addresses of the families that took them in. After sending letters to these addresses, 80 of "Winton's children" were found in Britain.[10] The world found out about Winton's work in 1988 on a television programme titled That's Life! when Winton was invited to be an audience member. At one point during the programme Winton's scrapbook was shown, and his achievements explained. The host of the programme then asked if there was anyone in the audience who owed their lives to Winton and if so to stand - at which point over 2 dozen audience members surrounding Winton rose and applauded.

[edit] Notable people saved

[edit] Honours

Winton was awarded Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Fourth Class, by the Czech President in 1998.[11] In the 1983 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his work in establishing the Abbeyfield homes for the elderly in Britain, and in the 2002 New Year Honours, he was knighted by HM Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his work on the Czech Kindertransporte.[6][12][13][14] He met the Queen again during her state visit to Slovakia in October 2008.[15]

The minor planet 19384 Winton was named in his honour by Czech astronomers Jana Tichá and Miloš Tichý.[16]

In 2008, he was honoured by the Czech government in several ways. An elementary school in Kunžak is named after him,[17] and he was awarded the Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defence, Grade I.[17] He was also nominated by the Czech government for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.[17][18]

Winton has not been declared a Righteous Gentile by Yad Vashem because his family has Jewish roots.[19]

[edit] 100th birthday

To celebrate his 100th birthday, he flew over the White Waltham Airfield in a microlight piloted by Judy Leden, the daughter of one of the boys he saved.[20] His birthday was also marked by the publication of a profile in the Jewish Chronicle.[21]

[edit] Winton train

Main article: Winton Train

On 1 September 2009, a special "Winton train" set off from the Prague Main railway station. The train, consisting of an original locomotive and carriages used in the 1930s, headed to London via the original Kindertransport route. On board the train were several surviving "Winton children" and their descendants, who were to be welcomed by Sir Nicholas in London. The occasion marked the 70th anniversary of the intended last Kindertransport which was due to set off on 3 September 1939 but never did because of the outbreak of the Second World War. At the train's departure, Sir Nicholas Winton's statue was unveiled at the railway station.[22]

[edit] Films

Winton's work is the subject of two films by Slovak filmmaker Matej Mináč: the drama All My Loved Ones (Všichni moji blízcí) (1999)[23] in which Winton was played by Rupert Graves; and the documentary The Power of Good: Nicholas Winton (Síla lidskosti — Nicholas Winton) (2002), which won an Emmy Award.[24]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Sir Nicholas Winton, A Man Of Courage". www.auschwitz.dk. Louis Bülow. 2008. http://www.winton.dk/. Retrieved 3 September 2009. 
  2. ^ a b c "ČD Winton Train - Biography". Winton Train. České drahy. 2009. http://www.wintontrain.eu/en/site/nicholas-winton/nw-zivotopis.htm. Retrieved 3 September 2009. 
  3. ^ "The official opening of Stanhope House". Stowe School. 6 March 2009. http://www.stowe.co.uk/news-and-events/news-archive/139/the-official-opening-of-stanhope-house. Retrieved 3 September 2009. 
  4. ^ "Nicholas Winton, the Schindler of Britain". www.auschwitz.dk. Louis Bülow. 2008. http://www.auschwitz.dk/Winton.htm. Retrieved 3 September 2009. 
  5. ^ Baruch Tenenbaum. "Nicholas Winton, British savior". IRWF. The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/?en/saviors/others/nicholas-winton-british-savior.5011016.htm. Retrieved 3 September 2009. 
  6. ^ a b c Lahav, Yehuda; Nir Hasson (2 September 2009). "Jews saved by U.K. stockbroker to reenact 1939 journey to safety". Haaretz.com. Ha'aretz. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1111852.html. Retrieved 3 September 2009. 
  7. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 36633, p. 3562, 28 July 1944. Retrieved on 9 September 2009.
  8. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 36963, p. 1202, 27 February 1945. Retrieved on 9 September 2009.
  9. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 40315, pp. 6200–6205, 27 February 1945. Retrieved on 9 September 2009.
  10. ^ a b "Film documents 'power of good'". Jewish News of Greater Phoenix. Jewishaz.com. http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/020201/power.shtml. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  11. ^ "List of holders of the Tomas Garrigue Masaryk Order". Prague Castle site. Office of the President of the Czech Republic. http://www.hrad.cz/en/czech-republic/state-decorations/tomas-garrigue-masaryk-order/list.shtml. Retrieved 3 September 2009. 
  12. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 49375, p. 17, 10 June 1983. Retrieved on 9 September 2009.
  13. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 56797, p. 2, 31 December 2002. Retrieved on 9 September 2009.
  14. ^ London Gazette: no. 57030, p. 10218, 15 August 2003. Retrieved on 9 September 2009.
  15. ^ "Slovaks welcome Queen to capital". BBC News. 23 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7686060.stm. Retrieved 3 September 2009. 
  16. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser". JPL Small-Body Database. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 2 October 2003. http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=19384+Winton. Retrieved 11 January 2009. 
  17. ^ a b c Sir Nicholas Winton in the Czech Republic, Ministry of Defense, Czech Republic, 2008-07-02, http://www.army.cz/scripts/detail.php?id=11598, retrieved 2009-09-05 
  18. ^ "UK | UK's 'Schindler' awaits Nobel vote". BBC News. 2008-02-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7222653.stm. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  19. ^ "Nicholas Winton". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Winton.html. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  20. ^ "'UK Schindler' in birthday flight". BBC News. 2009-06-29. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/berkshire/8125546.stm. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  21. ^ Porter, Monica (14 May 2009). "Sir Nicholas Winton: A reluctant Holocaust hero". Jewish Chronicle. http://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-features/sir-nicholas-winton-a-reluctant-holocaust-hero. Retrieved 20 December 2009. 
  22. ^ ČTK (1 September 2009). "Train in honour of Jewish children rescuer Winton leaves Prague". České noviny. Neris s.r.o.. http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/train-in-honour-of-jewish-children-rescuer-winton-leaves-prague/395346. Retrieved 1 September 2009. 
  23. ^ "Všichni moji blízcí (1999)". Imdb.com. http://imdb.com/title/tt0218705/. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 
  24. ^ "Síla lidskosti — Nicholas Winton (2002)". Imdb.com. http://imdb.com/title/tt0328499/. Retrieved 2009-09-01. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Winton"