Heroes of the Holocaust: Sir Nicholas Winton

In September 1938, following the Nazi annexation of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia, the number of mostly Jewish refugees seeking to flee Nazi persecution increased exponentially. Within the rest of Czechoslovakia, British humanitarian organizations were setting up refugee camps to deal with the influx of refugees from the Sudetenland.

Also in 1938, following the Kristallnacht pogrom in November, others within the British humanitarian organizations established a program known as the Kindertransport . The Kindertransport was a program that moved endangered children, most of whom were Jewish, from inside Nazi occupied Europe to ports on the eastern coast of Europe and then onto England. Once in England the children were placed with foster families and other child welfare organizations.

When Nicholas Winton went to Czechoslovakia to observe the refugee camps established by the British humanitarian organizations he was troubled to find that there were no programs established specifically for children. Winton then took it upon himself to establish a Kindertransport to move endangered children from Czechoslovakia to foster families in England.

Winton seemed to do all the leg work required for this program on his own, while he did have some help it was him that raised money, found foster homes, arranged from planes and trains to move the children to England, he was also required by the British government to deposit 50 pounds for each child that came into England to guarantee their departure from England when the time came.

The number of children that Winton saved by moving them out of Czechoslovakia prior to World War Two was not immediately known. As a matter of fact, Winton efforts went largely unknown until 1988 when his wife discovered a scrapbook in their attic with the children’s photos and biographical information enclosed.

Following the disclosure of Nicholas Winton’s efforts to save the children of Czechoslovakia it was determined that the program he established saved 669 children from Nazi persecution. After the full extent of Winton’s efforts were established he was made an honorary citizen of the Czech Republic, received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II, and was nominated for the Noble Peace Prize in 2007.

Based on the fact that Winton, who has become known as “Britain’s Schindler”, appeared to have never meant for the story of his efforts to be fully known, it seems unlikely that he was terribly disappointed to have not won said Noble Prize. Another worthy nominee that was denied a well-deserved honor to promote Al Gore’s “climate change” agenda.

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The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website. Retrieved from : http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007780