Nicholas Winton was responsible for saving the
lives of 669 children. He never spoke of this episode in his life and
certainly did not think of himself as a hero © 2011 Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.
Nicholas Winton was born in London in 1909 of German-Jewish parents. As an adult he became a banker, working initially in Hamburg, Germany and then Paris, before returning to Britain as a stockbroker.
In December 1938 Winton was due to travel to Switzerland for a skiing holiday. A friend who was involved in Jewish refugee work in Prague, Czechoslovakia, suggested that he travel to visit him instead. On arrival in Prague, Winton was horrified at the treatment of Czech Jews at the hands of the Nazis. He decided that he had to help the Jews.
After Kristallnacht, the British government had extended the quota to allow child refugees into Britain. They had to have an agreed place to live and a sponsor, who would pledge £50, so that they would not be a burden on the British state. Subject to these conditions, Winton was able to take children from Prague to Britain.
Winton believed that saving children was more important than his career. He gave up his job to stay in Prague in order to organise the rescue of Czech Jewish children. Winton built up biographies of children whose parents had asked him to take them to safety. He placed advertisements of these children in England seeking families to take them in...http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks3/responses-1933-1945/what-did-organisations-do/nicholas-winton/#.WY-2tbgYFNR
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