Nicholas Winton dies; saved more than 650 Jewish children from Holocaust

[erpowers]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Nicholas Winton, a humanitarian who almost single-handedly saved more than 650 Jewish children from the Holocaust, earning himself the label "Britain's Schindler," has died. He was 106.

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Winton arranged trains to carry children from Nazi-occupied Prague to Britain, battling bureaucracy at both ends and saving them from almost certain death — and then kept quiet about his exploits for a half-century.

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Born in London in 1909 to parents of German Jewish descent, Winton himself was raised as a Christian. He was a 29-year-old clerk at the London Stock Exchange when a friend contacted him and told him to cancel the skiing holiday they had planned in late 1938 and travel instead to Czechoslovakia.

Alarmed by the influx of refugees from the Sudetenland region recently annexed by Germany, Winton and his friend feared — correctly — that Czechoslovakia soon would be invaded by the Nazis and Jewish residents from there would be sent to concentration camps.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-nicholas-winton-dies-20150701-story.html

[ananda]

1. "I was there to save children."

..

[niyad]

2. requiescat in pace, brave soul.

[Triana]

3. Glad he was rightfully recognized for his amazing humanitarian work before he left us

[MurrayDelph]

4. If you search Youtube

for Nicholas Winton, you will find many stories of him.

This was my favorite:

[George II]

8. I've seen that video before, what a feeling everyone in the room must have had!

Thank God he was rewarded with a very very long life. RIP.

[Jack Rabbit]

16. This clip is very special

Did you see the look of love in that woman's eyes?

[awoke_in_2003]

17. Wow

I can't think of anything else to say

[mcar]

19. I cry buckets every time I see this video

What a wonderful man!

[hedda_foil]

21. The documentary aired on PBS fairly recently. What a mensch* in the true sense of the word.

If you're not familiar with the word, it means "a real person," a stand up guy, a person with heart.

[irisblue]

5. whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world

paraphrased from the Talmud.

[appalachiablue]

7. K & R. What a wonderful man who stepped in to save so many children in 1938.

Rest in Peace Nicholas Winton.

Thanks for the post.

[sarge43]

9. A gentle perfect knight

Peaceful passage

[brer cat]

10. Pass in peace,

rest in peace. Your name will be long remembered and cherished.

[Tempest]

11. Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport

The best documentary on Winton, IMO. And I've seen them all.

[Hekate]

12. RIP. To know that such people walk among us restores my faith in humanity.

[KingCharlemagne]

29. One would like to think that for every careless person like a Bush or Cheney, there walks

at least one such among us. Some days I have my doubts, but not today.

[SoapBox]

13. Wow...I have no words.

RIP

[mainer]

14. There is a beautiful exhibit honoring him in Prague

I remember walking through it and seeing all the faces of the children he saved. Truly a great man.

[840high]

15. ...

[sybylla]

18. Such a great man!

So happy that he had such a long life.

[Nye Bevan]

20. What a man.

RIP.

[smirkymonkey]

22. There was a film called "All My Loved Ones" starring Rupert Graves

as Nicholas Winton about the Kindertransport. It was about the children and their families and the agonizing choices they had to make as to whether to send their children away not knowing if they would ever see them again, but not wanting to risk their lives in Czechoslovakia either. It was well done and very heartbreaking. I would highly recommend it.

[merrily]

27. No matter how many stories one hears, sees or reads about the Nazis, the horror at each

new one never lessens. No words.

[Boomerproud]

30. I had a friend in elementary school whose mother grew up in Nazi Germany

so I was exposed to the horror stories at a pretty young age. The banality of evil-perfect phrase. Mr. Winston obviously belongs in the same class as Schindler and Wallenberg.

[Behind the Aegis]

23. A hero and giant among humans.

May his memory live on as he rests in peace.

[dembotoz]

24. True hero

[leftynyc]

25. May he rest in peace

He certainly did his part here on earth.

[merrily]

26. He had a long life. I sure hope it was also as good a life as he deserved. Bravo, sir.

[GOLGO 13]

28. Never heard of him before.

He was a righteous bad-ass.