You may not know him, but he is a hero: his feat was the product of a series of some casual, some personal factors. The calendar marked the end of 1938, and Nicholas (of English origin) intended to leave for Switzerland on vacation, his work in the stock market allowed.
He ended up in Czechoslovakia where he went to help a friend who was working to help Jewish refugees in a country partially invaded by the Third Reich. Mr. Winton was only 29 years old and a member of the Anglican church ...
His plans for rest went to waste, but I doubt that one day he has regretted it, it is more: probably realizing that there were no concrete plans to save Jewish children, they will forget their claims. It didn't take long to move threads and get support, because on March 14, 1939, Prague was leaving the first transport by plane to take a group of minors with London families, a day later the Germans completely occupied the Czech territory.
Previously Nicholas had managed to establish a plan to help children, collecting requests from parents at the hotel where he was staying, over time he would open an office. Hundreds of Jewish parents They were looking for a shelter for their children, intuiting that the end that awaited them would not be the best.
Through London-based Refugee Children's Movement, it was possible get accommodation with English families, and money for the return ticket (if it were produced), these conditions had been established by the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Our protagonist used the name of that movement, although at first he had no authority to do so: the point is that this collaborative relationship was intended to bear fruit.
By the way, as I read, a similar initiative did not take place in the United States, due to the opposition of anti-immigration movements
Although he saved 669 children, his story has gone virtually unnoticed until several decades later his wife discovered all the documentation. I have heard the news because a few days ago, he has received the order of the White Lion with 105 years, which is the highest honor of the Czech Republic; He had previously been knighted in the British Crown.
The exact number of children he saved is not known, they were all waiting for adoptive families at a London train station; the last group of children did not leave the Czech capital because Britain had just declared war on Germany after the invasion of Poland (September 1939).
The truth is that it is a bit of a shame that this man was not known more than he was afraid because he knew that the children were very vulnerable, and his humanitarian actions. Those children were later parents and are estimated at approximately 5000 people, the number of descendants they had ... they have never forgotten him, aware that their biological parents could not survive.
The story starring first person by Nicholas Winton, is the plot of a 2002 Czech film called "The power of Good"
And I think that in addition to deserving public recognition, Nicholas deserves that today's children (live where they live) know that these people are the true heroes of our society, although the others are very funny and fill movie theaters, because in practice they have proved very valuable. What a great lesson of humanity!
