Nicholas Winton was born Nicholas Wertheimer on May 19, 1909, in West Hampstead, England, and baptized as a member

of the Anglican h!rch by decision of his parents who were of "erman #ewish ancestry$ He was a stoc%bro%er by profession$ Nicholas Winton organized a resc!e operation that bro!ght appro&imately ''9 children, mostly #ewish, from zechoslo(a%ia to safety in "reat )ritain before the o!tbrea% of World War **$ +he ,- press has d!bbed him the .)ritish /chindler.$ *n 0ecember 1912, Martin )la%e, a friend and an instr!ctional master at the Westminster /chool in 3ondon, as%ed Winton to forego his planned s%i (acation and (isit him in zechoslo(a%ia, where he had tra(eled in his capacity as an associate of the )ritish ommittee for 4ef!gees from zechoslo(a%ia$ +his committee had been established in 5ctober 1912 to pro(ide assistance for ref!gees created by the "erman anne&ation of the /!deten regions !nder the terms of the M!nich 6act$ on(inced that a E!ropean war was imminent, Winton decided to go$ *n 6rag!e, )la%e introd!ced Winton to his colleag!e, 0oreen Wariner, and arranged for him to (isit ref!gee camps filled to capacity with #ews and political opponents from the /!detenland$ After M!nich, Winton had been certain that the "ermans wo!ld occ!py the rest of )ohemia and Mora(ia before long$ He had been alarmed f!rther by the (iolence against the #ewish comm!nity in "ermany and A!stria d!ring the Kristallnacht riots in No(ember 1912$ When he heard of s!bse7!ent efforts of #ewish agencies in )ritain to resc!e "erman and A!strian #ewish children on the so8called Kindertransport, an effort that e(ent!ally bro!ght abo!t 10,000 !naccompanied children to safety in "reat )ritain, Winton s!mmoned a small gro!p of people to organize a similar resc!e operation for children imperiled by the impending "erman dismemberment of zechoslo(a%ia in March 1919$ Winton immediately established a hildren9s /ection and, !sing the name of the )ritish ommittee for 4ef!gees from zechoslo(a%ia, initially witho!t a!thorization, began ta%ing applications from parents at his hotel in 6rag!e$ As his operation e&panded, he opened an office in central 6rag!e$ /oon, tho!sands of parents lined !p o!tside of Winton9s hildren /ection9s office see%ing a safe ha(en for their children$ Winton ret!rned to 3ondon to organize the resc!e operation on that end$ He raised money to f!nd the transports of the children and the :0 po!nd per child g!arantee demanded by the )ritish go(ernment to f!nd the children9s e(ent!al depart!re from )ritain$ He also had to find )ritish families willing to care for the ref!gee children$ )y day, Winton wor%ed at his reg!lar ;ob on the /toc% E&change, and then de(oted late afternoons and e(enings to his resc!e efforts$ He made a great effort to raise money and find foster homes to bring as many children as possible to safety$ +he first transport of children organized by Winton left 6rag!e by plane for 3ondon on March 1<, 1919, the day before the "ermans occ!pied the zech lands$ After the "ermans established a 6rotectorate in the zech pro(inces of )ohemia and Mora(ia, Winton organized se(en f!rther transports that departed by rail o!t of 6rag!e and across "ermany to the Atlantic oast, then by ship across the English hannel to )ritain$ At the train station in 3ondon, )ritish foster parents waited to collect the children$ +he last trainload of children left 6rag!e on A!g!st =, 1919$ 4esc!e acti(ities ceased when "ermany in(aded 6oland and )ritain declared war in "ermany in early /eptember 1919$ +he total n!mber of children resc!ed thro!gh Winton9s efforts is not yet certain$ According to a scrapboo% he %ept, ''< children came to "reat )ritain on transports that he organized$ *n the research compiled for the doc!mentary >+he 6ower of "ood? Nicholas Winton,@ aired on zech tele(ision in =00=, researchers identified fi(e additional persons who entered )ritain on a Winton8 financed transport, bringing the official n!mber to ''9 children$ +he a(ailable information indicates that some children who were resc!ed ha(e not yet been identified$

After the war, Nicholas Winton9s resc!e efforts remained (irt!ally !n%nown$ *t was not !ntil 1922, when his wife "rete fo!nd a scrapboo% from 1919 with all the children9s photos and a complete list of names of those resc!ed that Winton9s resc!e efforts became %nown$ Winton since recei(ed a letter of than%s from the late Ezer Weizman, former president of the /tate of *srael, and was made an honorary citizen of 6rag!e in the independent zech 4ep!blic$ *n =00=, Winton recei(ed a %nighthood from A!een Elizabeth ** for his ser(ices to h!manity$ +he resc!ed children, many of them now grandparents, still refer to themsel(es as >WintonBs children$@ And Winton said that hardly a wee% goes by when he isnBt in to!ch with one of the children or their relati(es$ Cera "issing, one of the resc!ed children, said, >*f he hadnBt gone to 6rag!e on that day Dinstead of on his s%iing (acationE, we wo!ldnBt be ali(e$ +here are tho!sands of !s in this world all than%s to him$@ When as%ed by a class doing a history pro;ect for ad(ice, Nicholas Winton said >0onBt be content in yo!r life ;!st to do no wrong$ )e prepared e(ery day to try to do some good$@ +here is c!rrently an online petition yo! can sign to nominate Nicholas Winton to recei(e a Nobel 6eace 6rize$