- Sir Nicholas Winton organised the transport of 669 children to the UK
- Without him, they would almost certainly have been killed by the Nazis
- Almost all of their parents went on to die in Nazi concentration camps
- He forged documents and bribed officials before he could get them out
- Winton, who is now 105, kept his story quiet for nearly 50 years
- Even the children he transported did not know he had saved them
- Now the Czech Republic will honour him for saving its children
By Leon Watson
Published: | Updated:
A British man who saved hundreds of Jewish children from the Holocaust is to be given the highest honour of the Czech Republic.
Sir Nicholas Winton, who celebrated his 105th birthday last week, organised the transport of 669 children – mostly Jewish – from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.
Independently of Operation Kindertransport, which did not include the children of Czechoslovakia, he ensured that over the course of nine months before the Second World War broke out in September 1939 they made their way to Britain.
Sir Nicholas Winton, organised the transport of 669 children - mostly Jewish - from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, at the Czech Embassy in London
Highest honour: Sir Nicholas Winton with one of the children he rescued
The ceremony held at the Czech Embassy for Sir Nicholas Winton
Sir Nicholas enjoyed his birthday party with a smile on his face and showed no signs of fatigue despite the never ending attention of almost one hundred well-wishers
Most of the children's families ended up being sent to Nazi concentration and death camps and were murdered during the Holocaust.
The decision to grant Sir Nicholas the Order of the White Lion was announced by the Czech ambassador, Michael Zantovsky, at an event in London to mark his birthday.
It also follows the launch of a biography written by his daughter, Barbara Winton.
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In a letter to the former stockbroker, the Czech president, Miloš Zeman, said: 'You gave these children the greatest possible gift: the chance to live and to be free.
'But you did not think of yourself as a hero because you were conducted by a desire to help those who could not defend themselves, those who were vulnerable.
'Your life is an example of humanity, selflessness, personal courage and modesty.'
Sir Nicholas was presented with a beautiful home-made birthday cake with 105 candles and a bouquet of flowers
After the war, Winton married, cared for mentally handicapped people and built homes for the elderly
Sir Nicholas Winton signing a copy of a new book about his life called If It's Not Impossible written by his daughter Barbara Winton
THE CZECH PRESIDENT'S LETTER OF THANKS TO SIR NICHOLAS
Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman wrote a letter of thanks to Sir Nicholas
Dear Sir Nicholas Winton,
By means of this letter I would like to congratulate you on your important jubilee that you are celebrating today. I would like to convey greetings and congratulations to you from the capital of a country where people remember your name in relation to an extraordinary heroic deed that arouses respect, esteem and gratitude across the generations. That is why I write to you, not only on my behalf but on behalf of many of my fellow citizens.
History is made up of people's stories and their often complex fates. It is especially those who did not originally intend to become famous and did not see their deeds as exceptional who usually make their mark in history and are remembered. Such people only did what they considered to be the right thing, to the best of their knowledge and belief. They did not think about what such behaviour would bring them or whether it would make them famous. And this is exactly what makes them heroes who are so much needed by each chapter of human history, if it is to serve as a lesson and inspiration for others.
On the verge of World War II, disregarding the danger to yourself, your personal commitment helped to save 669 Czechoslovak children, mainly Jewish, who would otherwise have faced prison, war hardships and often death. You gave then the greatest gift you could give them: the possibility to live and be free. However, you did not consider yourself to be a hero and the motive for what you did was your desire to help those who could not defend themselves and were vulnerable. Only many years after did the world learn about your heroism, which was and still is most greatly appreciated by the gratefulness of those whom you have saved.
Sir Nicholas, your life story is exceptional for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it is a role model of humanity, unselfishness, personal courage and humbleness. That is why I have decided to confer upon you on the occasion of our National Holiday on 28th October this year, the Order of the White Lion, the highest decoration of the Czech Republic. I would hereby like to invite you to Prague where I would like to confer upon you this decoration in person.
I would like to wish you all the best, good health, a lot of personal happiness and vitality. And allow me to wish us all to have the strength to draw inspiration from such life stories as yours, for without them there would be no hope for human history.
Kind regards,
Miloš Zeman
Recognized: He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2002 (pictured) and has been the subject of a film. Next month, his daughter is releasing a book about her father
The Daily Telegraph reported that at the reception in the Czech embassy Sir Nicholas said: 'I am always surprised every time I come here to see all kinds of people who have come really very great distances to say hello.
'As far as I am concerned, it is only anno Domini that I am fighting – I am not ill, I am just old and doddery. And I am more doddery than old.'
It was 1938 and violence was escalating against Jewish people in Europe when Sir Nicholas, then just 29, travelled to Prague on holiday.
Unassuming: Winton was 29 when he went to Prague and made a list of children to be saved
As the Nazis marched into Czechoslovakia, Sir Nicholas - who had no experience or connections in this sort of work - decided that he would see if he could save people.
He had actually booked a holiday to go skiing in Switzerland, but changed his plans at the last minute when a friend involved in Jewish refugee work asked him for help.
In a special interview with CBS' 60 Minutes last week, he said: 'All I knew was that the people that I met couldn't get out.
'And they were looking of ways of at least getting their children out... I work on the motto that if something's not impossible, there must be a way of doing it.'
When he returned to London, he had lists of hundreds of children and started trying to convince the British authorities to take them.
The stockbroker pretended to be more official than he was by taking stationery from an established refugee organization, adding 'Children's Section' to its header and making himself chairman, CBS reported.
He admitted it took 'a little smoke and mirrors' to convince authorities to believe him - but he said it mostly took getting a printing press to print the paper.
He continued his work as a stockbroker by day, before returning to the office to work on getting the children to the UK. His mother and volunteers also helped at the office.
Sir Nicholas said he contacted American authorities to take the children, but they said they were unable.
But British authorities said they would take them if Winton found each one a home, so he got to work advertising their pictures so that families would take them.
When he had secured them homes, the youngsters were ready to leave - but he found that the British authorities were slow to issue their travel documents.
Desperate to help the children get out, he forged their documents and also paid off officials, he said.
'Took a bit of blackmail on my part,' he admitted. 'It worked. That's the main thing.'
The first children left Prague on March 14, 1939 - just hours before German troops occupied Prague.
Eventually, seven trains carried more than 600 children to Holland, where they caught ferries to England. The Nazis allowed them to leave, happy that the country was being 'cleansed' of Jews.
Saved: Among the children saved were 14-year-old Alice Eberstark, left, and 10-year-old Hugo Meisl, right
Thankful: Alice, who now lives in Bethesda, Maryland, said she only heard Winton's name after 50 years
Survivor: Meisl said he was always hopeful that he would return home and find his parents
HOW THE GREAT BRITISH PUBLIC HELPED RESCUE JEWISH CHILDREN
On December 2, 1938, Jewish and Christian agencies began rescuing German and Austrian Jewish children on Kindertransporten (children's transports).
The Refugee Children's Movement, a group under the auspices of the Central British Fund for German Jewry or CBF, which later became the World Jewish Relief organisation, urged concerned Christians and Jews to support Operation Kindertransport.
An extensive fund-raising effort was organized and the British public responded generously, raising £500,000 in six months.
A large portion of this money was used to care for the children who were rescued.
Between December 1938 and May 1940, almost 10,000 children, infants to teenagers, were rescued and given shelter at farms, hostels, camps, and in private homes in Britain.
However, this effort did not include the children of Czechoslovakia; and this is why the work of Nicholas Winton was so vital.
Another train was scheduled to leave on September 1, but was stopped by the declaration of war.
Sir Nicholas said he has reason to suspect not many of those children survived.
At the reception in the Czech embassy Sir Nicholas said: 'I am always surprised every time I come here to see all kinds of people who have come really very great distances to say hello.
'As far as I am concerned, it is only anno Domini that I am fighting – I am not ill, I am just old and doddery. And I am more doddery than old.'
After the war, Sir Nicholas trained pilots for the Royal Air Force, married, raised a family and lived comfortably. He cared for mentally handicapped people and built homes for the elderly.
But he hardly told anyone about what he had done.
But in 1988, his wife Grete found a scrapbook in their attic listing the names of the children, their parents and the families that had taken them.
Later that year, the BBC learned about the story and Sir Nicholas was invited onto its That's Life show, where he met scores of the children he had saved.
In 2002, he was knighted, and he was also celebrated in a documentary called 'Nicky's Family'.
Found: A letter dated 1939 and written to President Franklin D. Roosevelt has been found in the National Archives. It asks the U.S. for help granting refuge to European children
Plea: It is signed by Sir Nicholas Winton - then a young London stockbroker who made it his mission to save children
Questions: Archives show that the letter was passed on to U.S. officials for a decision on what to do
Inquiries: The archivist found a letter to the President's Advisory Committee on Political Refugees
