Sir Nicholas George Winton (born Wertheim; 19 May 1909 – 1 July 2015) was a British

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

who helped to rescue children who were at risk of being

murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Born to

German-Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

parents who had emigrated to Britain at the beginning of the 20th century, Winton assisted in the rescue of 669 children, most of them

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, from

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

on the eve of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. On a brief visit to Czechoslovakia, he helped compile a list of children needing rescue and, returning to Britain, he worked to fulfill the legal requirements of bringing the children to Britain and finding homes and sponsors for them. This operation was later known as the Czech ' (German for "children's transport"). His humanitarian accomplishments went unnoticed by the world for nearly 50 years until 1988 when he was invited to the BBC television programme ''

That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical TV consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving 10–15,000 letters a week. The series broadcast on BBC1 for twenty-one years, ...

'', where he was reunited with dozens of the children he had helped come to Britain and was introduced to many of their children and grandchildren. The British press celebrated him and dubbed him the "British

Schindler Schindler is a German surname that is derived from the German word "schindel", which means " shingle". This suggests that the original bearers of the name were in the roofing business. Variations and alternate spellings of the name include: Shindl ...

". In 2003, Winton was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

for "services to humanity, in saving Jewish Children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia". On 28 October 2014, he was awarded the highest honour of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, the Order of the White Lion (1st class), by Czech President Miloš Zeman. Winton died on 1 July 2015, at the age of 106.

Early life

Winton was born on 19 May 1909 in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, London, to

parents Rudolph Wertheim (18811937), a bank manager, and Barbara ( Wertheimer, 18881978), as the middle-born of their three children. His elder sister was Charlotte (1908–2001) and his younger brother was Robert (1914–2009). Véase el número. 78. His parents were German Jews who had moved to London two years earlier. The family name was Wertheim, but they

changed Change or Changing may refer to: Alteration * Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time * Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of the menstrual period * Metamorphosis, or change, ...

it to Winton in an effort at integration. They also

converted to Christianity Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person to Christianity. Different Christian denominations may perform various different kinds of rituals or ceremonies initiation into their community of belie ...

, and Winton was baptised. In 1923, Winton entered

Stowe School , motto_translation = I stand firm and I stand first , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent school, day & boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster ...

, which had just opened. He left without qualifications, attending night school while volunteering at the Midland Bank. He then went to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, where he worked at Behrens Bank, followed by Wasserman Bank in Berlin. In 1931, he moved to France and worked for the Banque Nationale de Crédit in Paris. He also earned a banking qualification in France. Returning to London, he became a broker at the London Stock Exchange. Though a stockbroker, Winton was also "an ardent socialist who became close to Labour Party luminaries

Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government in which he spearheaded the creation of the British National Health ...

, Jennie Lee and

Tom Driberg Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell (22 May 1905 – 12 August 1976) was a British journalist, politician, High Anglican churchman and possible Soviet spy, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1942 to 1955, and again from 195 ...

". Through another socialist friend, Martin Blake, Winton became part of a left-wing circle opposed to

appeasement Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governm ...

and concerned about the dangers posed by the Nazis. At school, he had become an outstanding fencer, fencing both foil and epee, and was selected for the British team in 1938. He had hoped to compete in the following Olympics, but the games were cancelled because of

Rescue work

Shortly before Christmas 1938, Winton was planning to travel to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

for a skiing holiday. Following a call for help from

Marie Schmolka Marie Schmolka (née Eisner; 23 June 1893 – 27 March 1940) was a Czechoslovak Jewish activist and social worker who helped political refugees and Jewish adults and children escape the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in the lead-up to World ...

and Doreen Warriner, he decided instead to visit Prague and help Martin Blake, who was in Prague as an associate of the British Committee for Refugees from

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, then in the process of being occupied by Germany, and had called Winton to ask him to assist in Jewish welfare work.Jonathan Romai
"Un saludo al 'British Schindler' cuando cumple 104 años"
''The Guardian'', 17 de mayo de 2013. Alongside the Czechoslovak Refugee Committee, the British and Canadian volunteers such as Winton,

Trevor Chadwick Trevor Chadwick (22April 190723December 1979) was a British humanitarian who was involved in the ''Kindertransport'' to rescue Jewish and other refugee children in Czechoslovakia in 1938–1939 before World War II. After the Munich Agreement Naz ...

, and

Beatrice Wellington Beatrice Wellington (born 15 June 1907 – died 1971) was a Canadian woman who worked to evacuate children from Prague during the early stages of the German occupation in World War II overseeing the operation of the Kindertransport from Czechoslov ...

worked in organising to aid children from Jewish families at risk from the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

. Many of them set up their office at a dining room table in a hotel in Wenceslas Square. Altogether, Winton spent one month in Prague and left in January 1939, six weeks before the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. Other foreign volunteers remained, such as Chadwick, Warriner and Wellington. In November 1938, following '' Kristallnacht'' in Nazi-ruled Germany, the House of Commons approved a measure to allow the entry into Britain of refugees younger than 17, provided they had a place to stay and a warranty of £50 (approximately £3,600, adjusted for inflation, as of 2021) was deposited per person for their eventual return to their own country.

Netherlands

An important obstacle was getting official permission to cross into the Netherlands, as the children were to embark on the ferry at Hook of Holland. After '' Kristallnacht'' in November 1938, the Dutch government officially closed its borders to any Jewish refugees. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee searched for them and returned any found to Germany, despite the horrors of ''Kristallnacht'' being well known. Winton succeeded, thanks to the guarantees he had obtained from Britain. After the first train, the process of crossing the Netherlands went smoothly. Winton ultimately found homes in Britain for 669 children, many of whose parents perished in the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. His mother worked with him to place the children in homes and later hostels. Throughout the summer of 1939, he placed photographs of the children in '' Picture Post'' seeking families to accept them. By coincidence, the names of the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

steamers which operated the Harwich to Hook of Holland route included the and the ; the former can be seen in a 1938 Pathé newsreel. He also wrote to U.S. politicians such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, asking them to take more children. He said that two thousand more might have been saved if they had helped, but only Sweden took any besides those sent to Britain. The last group of children, scheduled to leave Prague on 1 September 1939, was unable to depart. With Hitler's invasion of Poland on the same day, the Second World War had begun. Of the 250 children due to leave on that train, only two survived the war. Winton acknowledged the vital roles in Prague of Doreen Warriner,

, Nicholas Stopford,

(born 15 June 1907), Josephine Pike and Bill Barazetti (1914–2000), who also worked to evacuate children from Europe. Winton was in Prague for only about three weeks before the Nazis occupied the country. He never set foot in the

Prague main railway station Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate oc ...

, although a statue of him is erected there. He later wrote that Chadwick "then went to work and dealt with all the considerable problems at the Prague end and this work he continued to carry on even when it became difficult and dangerous when the Germans arrived. He deserves all praise".

Notable people saved

* Leslie Baruch Brent (1925–2019), immunologist who did groundbreaking work on immune tolerance. * Alf Dubs, Baron Dubs (born 1932), British Labour Party politician and former Member of Parliament * Heini Halberstam (1926–2014), mathematician *

Renata Laxova Renata Laxova (July 15, 1931 – November 30, 2020) was an American pediatric geneticist and a professor of genetics at the Departments of Pediatrics and Medical Genetics, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison. She was the dis ...

(1931–2020), paediatric geneticist *

Isi Metzstein Isi Israel Metzstein Order of the British Empire, OBE (7 July 1928 – 10 January 2012) was a German-born architect who worked at Gillespie, Kidd & Coia and taught at the Glasgow School of Art. He became known for his postwar architectural desig ...

(1928–2012), modernist architect *

Gerda Mayer Gerda Kamilla Mayer (9 June 1927 – 15 July 2021) was an English poet born to a Jewish family in Karlsbad, Czechoslovakia. She escaped to England from Prague in 1939, aged eleven, on a Kindertransport flight organised by Trevor Chadwick. Havi ...

(1927–2021), poet * Karel Reisz (1926–2002), filmmaker *

Joe Schlesinger Josef Schlesinger, (May 11, 1928 – February 11, 2019) was a Canadian foreign correspondent, television journalist, and author. Early life and career Schlesinger was born to a devout Jewish family in Vienna, Austria, on May 11, 1928. He was ra ...

(1928–2019), Canadian television journalist and author *

Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss Rabbi Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss (26 August 1926 – 29 July 2022) was the Chief Rabbi, or ''Gaavad'' (''Gaon Av Beis Din''), of Jerusalem for the Edah HaChareidis. He was appointed to this post in 2004, after having served as a ''dayan'' of the ' ...

(1926–2022), Chief Rabbi of the Edah HaChareidis in Jerusalem *

Vera Gissing Vera Gissing (born Věra Diamantová; 4 July 1928 – 12 March 2022) was a Czech-British writer, translator, and one of "Winton's children", the children saved by the actions of Nicholas Winton. Her sister, who accompanied her on the kindertra ...

(1928–2022), writer and translator Of the 669 children saved from the Holocaust through Winton's efforts, more than 370 have never been traced. BBC News suggested in 2015 that they may not know the full story of how they survived the war.

Second World War

After the outbreak of

, Winton declined to be conscripted into the British Army, applying successfully for registration as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

, and later served with the Red Cross. In 1940, he rescinded his objections and joined the Royal Air Force, Administrative and Special Duties Branch. He was an

aircraftman Aircraftman (AC) or aircraftwoman (ACW) is the lowest rank in the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the air forces of several other Commonwealth countries. In RAF slang, aircraftmen are sometimes called "erks". Aircraftman ranks below leading ...

, rising to

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

by the time he was commissioned on 22 June 1944 as an acting pilot officer on probation. On 17 August 1944, he was promoted to

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

on probation. He was promoted to the rank of

war substantive Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in a m ...

flying officer on 17 February 1945. He relinquished his commission on 19 May 1954, retaining the honorary rank of

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

Postwar

Family life

After the war, Winton worked for the International Refugee Organization and then the

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, that is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers l ...

in Paris, where he met Grete Gjelstrup, a Danish secretary and accountant's daughter. They married in her hometown of Vejle on 31 October 1948. They had three children, the youngest of whom, Robin, had Down syndrome. The family insisted that their son Robin stay with them rather than go to a residential home as was the norm. Robin's death from

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

on the day before his sixth birthday affected Winton greatly and he founded a local support organisation which became Maidenhead Mencap. Winton stood, unsuccessfully, for the town council in 1954; he later found work in the finance departments of various companies.

Recognition

Winton mentioned his humanitarian accomplishments in his election material while unsuccessfully standing for election to the Maidenhead town council in 1954. Otherwise, he went unnoticed for half a century until in 1988 his wife found a detailed scrapbook in their attic, containing lists of the children, including their parents' names and the names and addresses of the families that took them in. She gave the scrapbook to

Elisabeth Maxwell Elisabeth Jenny Jeanne Maxwell (; 11 April 1921 – 7 August 2013) was a French-born researcher of the Holocaust who established the journal ''Holocaust and Genocide Studies'' in 1987. She was married to publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell from 1 ...

, a Holocaust researcher and wife of media magnate Robert Maxwell. Winton forgot why this was done. Letters were sent to each of these known addresses and 80 of "Winton's children" were found in Britain. In an interview on the BBC radio programme '' The Life Scientific'',

Simon Wessely Sir Simon Charles Wessely (born 23 December 1956) is a British psychiatrist. He is Regius Professor of Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London and head of its department of psychological medicine, vice dean for academi ...

described how his father Rudi, one of the rescued children, had a chance encounter with Winton. The wider world found out about his work in February 1988 during an episode of the BBC television programme ''

'' when he was invited as a member of the audience. At one point, Winton's scrapbook was shown and his achievements were explained. The host of the programme, Esther Rantzen, asked whether anybody in the audience were among the children who owed their lives to Winton, and if so, to stand: more than two dozen people surrounding Winton rose and applauded. Rantzen then asked if anyone present was the child or grandchild of one of the children Winton saved, and the rest of the audience stood. He was the subject of ''

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' in 2003 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel at Winton House, an Abbeyfield Society care home in Windsor, named in his honour. By the time Winton's work became known in 1988, most of the people who had worked in the kindertransport in Czechoslovakia had died unrecognized. Winton became the last-surviving and much-lionized symbol of British help to refugees fleeing the Nazis, especially Jewish refugees, before World War II. In one article, two scholars have attempted to put his accomplishments in perspective, writing that Winton "accompanied no trains, made no travel arrangements, never encountered the Gestapo or any personal danger, did not use his own money and, most importantly, did not act alone....We should not reduce the account to just one saint."

100th birthday

To celebrate his 100th birthday, Winton flew over the White Waltham Airfield in a microlight piloted by

Judy Leden Judy Leden, MBE (born 1959) is a British hang glider and paraglider pilot. She has held three world champion titles,Flying with Condors by Judy Leden twice in hang gliding, once in paragliding. Biography Judy Leden's flying career began while s ...

, the daughter of one of the boys he saved. His birthday was also marked by the publication of a profile in '' The Jewish Chronicle''.

Death

Winton died in his sleep from cardiac arrest on the morning of 1 July 2015 at Wexham Park Hospital in

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

, having been admitted a week earlier following a deterioration in his health. He was 106 years old. Winton was survived by his son, Nicholas, and his daughter, Barbara. Winton's death came 76 years to the day after 241 of the children he saved left Prague on a train. A special report from the BBC News on several of the children whom Winton rescued during the war had been published earlier that day.

Honours

In the

1983 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supp ...

, Winton was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his work in establishing the

Abbeyfield Abbeyfield, formally The Abbeyfield Society, is an English housing charity operating in the United Kingdom. It provides sheltered housing and care homes for elderly people. Based in St Albans, Hertfordshire, it is a registered charity under Engli ...

homes for the elderly in Britain; and, in the

2003 New Year Honours The 2003 New Year's Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British monarch's honours system, where 1 January is marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of ot ...

, he was

for services to humanity, in recognition of his work on the Czech ''Kindertransport''. He met the Queen again during her

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...

to Bratislava, Slovakia, in October 2008. In 2003, Winton received the

Pride of Britain Award The Pride of Britain Awards is an annual award ceremony which has taken place in the United Kingdom since May 1999 and first televised on ITV in April 2000. The awards honour British people who have acted bravely or extraordinarily in challeng ...

for Lifetime Achievement. In 2010, Winton was named a

British Hero of the Holocaust The British Hero of the Holocaust award is a special national award given by the government of the United Kingdom in recognition of British citizens who assisted in rescuing victims of the Holocaust. On 9 March 2010, it was awarded to 25 individ ...

by the British Government. Winton was awarded the

Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk The Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk ( cz, Řád Tomáše Garrigua Masaryka) is an Order of the Czech Republic and the former Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1990 after the Velvet Revolution, and re-established in 1994 (following the diss ...

, Fourth Class, by the

Czech President The president of the Czech Republic is the head of state of the Czech Republic and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. The president mostly has ceremonial powers as the day-to-day business of the executive governm ...

Václav Havel in 1998. In 2008, he was honoured by the Czech government in several ways. An elementary school in

Kunžak Kunžak is a municipality and village in Jindřichův Hradec District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,500 inhabitants. Kunžak lies approximately east of Jindřichův Hradec, east of České Budějovice, and ...

is named after him, and he was awarded the Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defence, Grade I. The Czech government nominated him for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize. The minor planet 19384 Winton was named in his honour by Czech astronomers Jana Tichá and Miloš Tichý. Wintons Prague memorial by Flor Kent - 1

Wintons Prague memorial by Flor Kent - 1

A statue of Winton stands on Platform 1 of the Praha hlavní nádraží railway station. Created by Flor Kent, it was unveiled on 1 September 2009 as part of a larger commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the last ''Kindertransport'' train (see also ''Winton train'', below). There are also three memorials at

Liverpool Street Station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

in London, where the ''Kindertransport'' children arrived. In September 2010, another statue of Winton was unveiled, this time at

Maidenhead railway station Maidenhead railway station serves the town of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. It is down the line from and is situated between to the east and to the west. It is served by local services operated by Great Western Railway and the Elizabet ...

by Home Secretary Theresa May, MP for

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

. Created by Lydia Karpinska, it depicts Winton sitting on a bench and reading a book. Winton was baptised as a Christian by his parents, but his Jewish ancestry disqualified him from being declared a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in Israel. As an adult, he was not active in any particular religion. In a 2015 interview, Winton told Stephen Sackur he had become disillusioned with religion during the war as he could not reconcile religious movements "praying for victory on both sides of the same war". Winton went on to describe his personal beliefs: "I believe in ethics, and if everybody believed in ethics we'd have no problems at all. That's the only way out; forget the religious side." Winton received the

Wallenberg Medal The Wallenberg Medal of the University of Michigan is awarded to outstanding humanitarians whose actions on behalf of the defenseless and oppressed reflect the heroic commitment and sacrifice of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who rescued ...

on 27 June 2013 in London. The following year, the

International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation (IRWF) is a non-governmental organization which researches Holocaust rescuers and advocates for their recognition. The organization developed educational programs for school to promote peace and civil s ...

established a literary competition named after Winton. The contest is for essays by high school students about Winton's legacy.Carta en el periódico The Guardian, 24 de mayo de 2014, firmada por Eduardo Eurnekian y Baruch Tenembaum, presidente y fundador de la Fundación Internacional Raoul Wallenberg Winton was awarded the Freedom of the City of London on 23 February 2015. In 2019 his old school, Stowe, opened a new boys' day house, named Winton.

Winton train

On 1 September 2009, a special "Winton Train" composed of one or two steam locomotives (out of a set of six) and carriages used in the 1930s set off from the Prague Main railway station for London via the original Kindertransport route. On board were several surviving "Winton children" and their descendants, who were welcomed by Winton in London. The occasion marked the 70th anniversary of the final intended Kindertransport arranged by Winton, due to set off on 1 September 1939 but prevented by the outbreak of the Second World War that very day. At the train's departure, a memorial statue for Winton, designed by Flor Kent, was unveiled at the railway station.

Order of the White Lion

On 19 May 2014, Winton's 105th birthday, it was announced he was to receive the

's highest honour, for giving Czech children "the greatest possible gift: the chance to live and to be free". On 28 October 2014, Winton was awarded the Order of the White Lion (Class I) by Czech President Miloš Zeman, the Czech Defence Ministry having sent a special aircraft to bring him to Prague. The award was made alongside one to

Sir Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

, which was accepted by his grandson Nicholas Soames. Zeman said he regretted the highest Czech award having been awarded to the two personalities so belatedly, but added "better late than never". Winton was also able to meet some of the people he rescued 75 years earlier, themselves then in their 80s. He said, "I want to thank you all for this enormous expression of thanks for something which happened to me nearly 100 years ago—and a 100 years is a heck of a long time. I am delighted that so many of the children are still about and are here to thank me."

List of national honours

* * *

Popular culture

Winton's work is the subject of three films by Slovak filmmaker Matej Mináč: the drama ''

All My Loved Ones ''All My Loved Ones'' () is a 1999 Czech-language film directed by Matej Mináč. It was an international co-production between Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It was Slovakia's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the 72nd ...

'' (1999), in which Winton was played by Rupert Graves, the documentary '' The Power of Good: Nicholas Winton'' (''Síla lidskosti—Nicholas Winton'', 2002), which won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, and the documentary drama '' Nicky's Family'' (''Nickyho rodina'', 2011). A play about Winton, ''Numbers from Prague'', was performed in Cambridge in January 2011.La Asociación Europea para la Cultura Judía
, premios de becas de teatro 2010. Winton is a featured subject in '' Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport'' (2000), narrated by Judi Dench and winner of the 2001 Academy Award for best feature documentary. It was produced by

Deborah Oppenheimer Deborah Oppenheimer is an American film and television producer. She won an Academy Award in 2001 for best documentary feature for producing '' Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport'' (2000). The film, about the British resc ...

, daughter of a Kindertransport child, and written and directed by three-time Oscar winner

Mark Jonathan Harris Mark Jonathan Harris (born 1941) is an American documentary filmmaker probably best known for his films '' Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport'' (2000) and '' The Long Way Home'' (1997). He has directed three documentaries ...

. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's '' Today'' programme, on 28 October 2014, Winton said he thought he had "made a difference to a lot of people" and went on to say, "I don't think we've learned anything… the world today is in a more dangerous situation than it has ever been." On 19 May 2020, Google honoured Winton's legacy on the 111th anniversary of his birth with a Google Doodle. Sir Anthony Hopkins and

Johnny Flynn John Patrick Vivian Flynn (born 14 March 1983) is a British actor and singer-songwriter. He has starred as Dylan Witter in the Channel 4 and Netflix television sitcom '' Lovesick'', and portrayed David Bowie in the film '' Stardust''. Flynn i ...

will play Winton, at different stages in life, in a film titled '' One Life''. Directed by

Aisling Walsh Aisling Walsh (born 1958) is an Irish screenwriter and director. Her work has screened at festivals around the world and she has won several accolades, including a BAFTA TV Award for '' Room at the Top'' (2012) as well as an Irish Film and Telev ...

, ''One Life'' will be filmed in the United Kingdom and Czech Republic from April 2021.

Memorials

On 22 April 2016, a remembrance quarter peal was rung and a new method named ''Sir Nicholas Winton Delight'' by bellringers of the Whiting Society of Ringers. On 19 May 2016, a memorial service for Winton was held at London's Guildhall, attended by some 400 people, including 28 of those he saved, and Czech, Slovak and UK government representatives. On 20 May 2016, military charity

Glen Art Glen Art is a Scottish charity helping those from a military background return to civilian life. Their projects and artistic events aim to bring people together and strengthen relationships between ex-service personnel and their communities. Th ...

presented a memorial concert celebrating Winton's life with Jason Isaacs, Rupert Graves and Alexander Baillie, at St John's, Smith Square. All funds donated were given to charities supporting Syrian refugee children. On 14 July 2017, a memorial garden for Winton was opened in Maidenhead Oaken Grove park by Prime Minister Theresa May.

References

External links

*
Sir Nicholas Winton's meeting with many of the people he saved
(BBC Programme "That's Life" aired in 1988) * Sir Nicholas Winton's page o
Maidenhead Heritage Centre Hall of Fame

Nicholas Winton film wins Emmy
Czech Radio interview

Nicholas Winton – The Power of Good
* *
Interview with Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines, one of the children saved
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Winton, Nicholas 1909 births 2015 deaths English bankers English centenarians English conscientious objectors English expatriates in France English expatriates in Germany English humanitarians English people of German-Jewish descent English stockbrokers English male fencers English socialists English atheists Former Anglicans Kindertransport Knights Bachelor Members of the Order of the British Empire Men centenarians People educated at Stowe School People from Hampstead Recipients of the Order of the White Lion Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk People who rescued Jews during the Holocaust Red Cross personnel Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century English businesspeople