Nicholas Winton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sir Nicholas Winton MBE | |
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| Born | 19 May 1909 United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Humanitarian |
Sir Nicholas George Winton, MBE (born 19 May 1909) is a Briton who organised the rescue and passage to Britain of about 669 mostly Jewish Czechoslovakian children destined for the Nazi death camps before World War II in an operation known as the Czech Kindertransport.
Winton's family origins were Jewish, but his parents converted to Christianity and subsequently baptised and raised him as a Christian. Consequently, Nicholas Winton has never been designated a member of the Righteous Gentiles at Yad Vashem by Israel, not being a "Gentile". However, Winton is not perturbed by this situation and does not view his activities as anything extraordinary.[1] He kept his humanitarian exploits under wraps for many years until after his late wife Greta found a detailed scrapbook in the attic in 1988.[2]
Winton was awarded Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk by the Czech President in 1998.[3]
Sir Nicholas was awarded a knighthood in the New Year's honours list published on 31 December 2002.[4][5]
Winton's work is the subject of two films by Slovak filmmaker Matej Mináč: the drama All My Loved Ones (Všichni moji blízcí) (1999)[6] 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.[7]
The minor planet 19384 Winton was named in his honour by the Czech astronomers Jana Tichá and Miloš Tichý.[8]
Winton was nominated by the Czech government for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize.[9]
Sir Nicholas met HM Queen Elizabeth II during Her state visit to Slovenia and Slovakia as part of Her Majesty's four day state visit to Central Europe on Thursday 23 October 2008. [10]
To celebrate his 100th birthday, he recently flew over the White Waltham Airfield in a microlight piloted by Judy Leden, the daughter of one of the boys he saved.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ Nicholas Winton
- ^ Film documents 'power of good'
- ^ Tomas Garrigue Masaryk Order, List of Honoured
- ^ Secret hero who saved Jewish children from the Nazis is lauded, 50 years on - Times Online
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 56797, p. 2, 31 December 2002. Retrieved on 2009-01-04.
- ^ Všichni moji blízcí (1999)
- ^ Síla lidskosti - Nicholas Winton (2002)
- ^ "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 on 11 January 2009.
- ^ BBC NEWS | UK | UK's 'Schindler' awaits Nobel vote
- ^ Slovaks welcome Queen to capital BBC News 23 October 2008
- ^ BBC News | UK | 'UK Schindler' in birthday flight
[edit] External links
- Sir Nicholas Winton, A Man Of Courage
- Nicholas Winton from the Jewish Virtual Library.
- Nicholas Winton, the Schindler of Britain
- Nicholas Winton: British savior from the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.
- Nicholas Winton film wins Emmy Czech Radio interview
- List of International Emmy Awards Winners - documentary
- Jewish News about Nicholas Winton - The Power of Good
- The New York Times Review of All My Loved Ones
- The Power of Good - web
- Nicholas Winton - The Power of Good - web
- Interview in BBC Breakfast with Frost
