Nicholas Winton has lived a truly remarkable life. WWII brought out the worst in humanity, but it also showed us the very best that the greatest generation had to offer.
Whether it be the brave men storming the beaches of Normandy, ignoring the hail of bullets screaming towards them, or the brave soldiers raising the flag on Iwo Jima, the men and women of that time really showed us the best in people.
But not all heroes are soldiers of war — some are just ordinary people who are forced into extraordinary circumstances. Such is the case for Winton, who was just a regular, peace-loving man trying to live a normal life in London.
Winton, who was of German-Jewish descent, worked as a stockbroker. His employment and background exposed him to the Nazi plague that was attacking countless Jews in Germany. Winton heard of the dark tales and rumors circulating about what the Nazis were doing to these people — to his people.
The Jerusalem Post reports, “His involvement began in 1938, when he arrived in Prague as a 29-year-old stockbroker after a friend canceled their planned Swiss skiing holiday and invited him to visit Czechoslovakia. Shortly after the Nazi occupation of the disputed Sudetenland, and having seen refugee camps outside Prague, Winton decided to help children secure British permits.”
Winton knew that the politicians would act too slowly to save the lives of countless Jews; he had to take fate into his own hands and at least try to do something.
BBC news reports, “Winton visited refugee camps outside Prague and decided to help children secure British permits in the same way children from other countries had been rescued by ‘kindertransports.”
Essentially, Winton, a Jew, would go into Nazi-occupied countries, attempt to round up as many Jewish children as he could, and then send the rescued children on a train headed for the West. Once the children arrived in safe territory, Winton found foster parents for them. Sources confirmed that the man saved 669 young children who would have been killed by Nazis were it not for his efforts.
After the war, Winton did his best to live a life of relative obscurity. It wasn’t until his wife found a scrapbook filled with the names and addresses of all the children he had saved that she looked deeper into his past.
Eventually the media got hold of the story; they knew Winton’s tale had to be shared with as many people as possible.
The Conservative Tribune reports, “Producers of the television program arranged things such that the unknowing Winton would be seated in the midst of a number of people he had rescued. The reveal, when the show’s host asked those who owed their lives to Winton to stand, was emotional to say the least, as you can see in the video above.”
The video is incredible: Winton tries his best to be a proper British man, but eventually begins to cry. So many people were able to stand up and thank the man for his heroic past.
Sadly, Mr. Winton died in 2007 at the age of 105. Though he may be gone, his legacy certainly lives on. Winton has been heralded as the “British Schindler,” he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, there are statues of him in multiple countries, and there are thousands of families who would not even be here if he didn’t make the choice that he did so many years ago.
It’s men like this that show us there are things worth saving and honor is not lost.
