Nicholas Winton

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Sir
Nicholas Winton
MBE

Winton in Prague on 10 October 2007

Born

Nicholas George Wertheim

19 May 1909
Hampstead, London

Died

1 July 2015 (aged 106)

Wexham Hospital, Slough, Berkshire

Cause of death

Respiratory failure

Other names

Chaim Wertheimer

Alma mater

Stowe School

Occupation

Humanitarian

Years active

19382015

Spouse(s)

Grete Gjelstrup (m. 1948;wid. 1999)

Children

Military career

Allegiance

United Kingdom

Service/branch

Royal Air Force

Years of service

19401954

Rank

Flight lieutenant

Battles/wars

Second World War

Website

nicholaswinton.com

Sir Nicholas George Winton MBE (born Nicholas George Wertheim; 19 May 1909 1 July 2015)
was a British humanitarian who organized the rescue of 669 children, most of them Jewish,
from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Second World Warin an operation later known
as the Czech Kindertransport. Winton found homes for the children and arranged for their safe
passage to Britain.[1] After the war, Winton did not discuss his efforts with anyone; his wife found out
what he had done only after she discovered a scrapbook in their attic in 1988, detailing the children's
parents and the families that took them in. The British press dubbed him the "British Schindler".[2] On
28 October 2014, he was awarded the highest honour of the Czech Republic, the Order of the White
Lion, by the Czech president, Milo Zeman.
Contents
[hide]

1 Early life

2 Humanitarian work
o

2.1 The Netherlands

2.2 Notable people saved

3 Second World War

4 Post-war
o

4.1 Recognition

4.2 100th birthday

5 Death

6 Honours
o

6.1 Winton train

6.2 Order of the White Lion

7 Popular culture

8 See also

9 References

10 Further reading

11 External links

Early life[edit]
Nicholas Winton was born on 19 May 1909 in Hampstead, London, a son of bank manager Rudolph
Wertheim and wife Barbara (ne Wertheimer).[3][4][5] His parents were German Jews who had moved
to London two years earlier.[6][dead link] The family name was Wertheim, but they changed it to Winton in
an effort at integration.[7] They also converted to Christianity, and Winton was baptised.[8]
In 1923, Winton entered Stowe School, which had just opened.[9] He left without qualifications,
attending night school while volunteering at the Midland Bank. He then went to Hamburg, where he
worked at Behrens Bank, followed by Wasserman Bank inBerlin.[6] In 1931, he moved to France and
worked for the Banque Nationale de Crdit 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 party
luminaries Aneurin Bevan, Jennie Lee and Tom Driberg."[10] Through another socialist friend, Martin
Blake, Winton became part of a leftwing circle opposed to appeasement and concerned about the
dangers posed by the Nazis.[10]

Humanitarian work[edit]
See also: Kindertransport
Shortly before Christmas 1938, Winton was planning to travel to Switzerland for a skiing holiday. He
decided instead to visit Prague and help Martin Blake,[6] who was in Pragueas an associate of the
British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia,[11] and had called Winton to ask him to assist in
Jewish welfare work.[12] Winton single-handedly established an organisation to aid children from
Jewish families at risk from the Nazis. He set up his office at a dining room table in his hotel
in Wenceslas Square.[13] In November 1938, following the 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 was deposited for their eventual return
to their own country.[14]

The Netherlands[edit]
An important obstacle was getting official permission to cross into the Netherlands, as the children
were destined to embark on the ferry at Hoek van Holland. After theKristallnacht in November 1938,

the Dutch government officially closed its borders to any Jewish refugees. The border
guards, marechaussees, searched for them and returned any found to Germany, despite the horrors
of Kristallnacht being well known.[15]
Winton succeeded, thanks to the guarantees he had obtained from Britain. After the first train, the
process of crossing the Netherlands went smoothly.[16] Winton ultimately found homes in Britain for
669 children,[17] many of whose parents would perish in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
[18]
Winton's mother worked with him to place the children in homes and later hostels.[19] Throughout
the summer, Winton placed advertisements seeking families to accept the children. The last group of
250, scheduled to leave Prague on 1 September 1939, did not reach safety. Hitler had invaded
Poland and the Second World War had begun.[12][18] Nearly all of the children on the last,
unsuccessful, train perished during the war.[20]
Winton acknowledged the vital roles of Beatrice Wellington, Doreen Warriner, Trevor Chadwick and
others in Prague 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 Prague Station. As he
later wrote, "Chadwick did the more difficult and dangerous work after the Nazis invaded ... he
deserves all praise".[21]

Notable people saved[edit]

Alf Dubs, Baron Dubs

Karel Reisz

Joe Schlesinger

Renata Laxova

Heini Halberstam

Of the 669 children saved from the Holocaust through Winton's efforts, more than 370 have never
been traced. The BBC News suggested in 2015 that they may not know the full story of how they
survived the war.[22]

Second World War[edit]

After the outbreak of the Second World War, Winton applied successfully for registration as
a conscientious objector and later served with the Red Cross.[23] In 1940, he rescinded his objections
and joined the Royal Air Force, Administrative and Special Duties Branch. He was an aircraftman,
rising to sergeant by the time he was commissioned on 22 June 1944 as an acting pilot officer on
probation.[24]
On 17 August 1944, he was promoted to pilot officer on probation.[25] He was promoted to the rank
of war substantive flying officer on 17 February 1945.[26] He relinquished his commission on 19 May
1954, retaining the honorary rank of flight lieutenant.[27]

Post-war[edit]

Winton visiting Prague in 2007

After the war, he worked for the International Refugee Organisation and then the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development in Paris, where he met Grete Gjelstrup, a 10 years younger
Danish secretary and accountant's daughter.[3][10]He married Grete in her hometown Vejle on 31
October 1948 as a representative of the United Nations residing in Paris with engineer Robert
Charles Winton of London as his best man.[3] He and Grete settled in Maidenhead, England, where
they brought up their three children and he stood, unsuccessfully, for the town council in 1954.
[10]
Winton found work in the finance departments of various companies. [10]

Recognition[edit]
Winton kept quiet about his humanitarian exploits for many years, until his wife Grete found a
detailed scrapbook in their attic in 1988.[28] It contained lists of the children, including their parents'
names and the names and addresses of the families that took them in. By sending letters to these
addresses, 80 of "Winton's children" were found in Britain. [28]
The world found out about his work in 1988 during an episode of the BBC television
programme That's Life![29] 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 any in the audience owed their lives to Winton, and if so, to stand more
than two dozen people surrounding Winton rose and applauded. [30]

100th birthday[edit]
To celebrate his 100th birthday, Winton flew over the White Waltham Airfield in a microlight piloted
by Judy Leden, the daughter of one of the boys he saved.[31] His birthday was also marked by the
publication of a profile in The Jewish Chronicle.[32]

Death[edit]
Winton died on the morning of 1 July 2015 at Wexham Hospital in Slough from respiratory failure,
with his daughter Barbara and two grandchildren at his bedside. He was 106 years old. [33][34][35][36]
Winton's death came 76 years to the day after 241 of the children he saved left Prague on a train.
[33]
A special report from the BBC News on several of the children whom Winton rescued during the
war had been published earlier that day.[22]

Honours[edit]

Memorial to the work of Winton, by Flor Kent, at Prague main railway station, installed 2009.

In the 1983 Queen's Birthday Honours, Winton was appointed a Member of the Order of the British
Empire (MBE) for his work in establishing the Abbeyfield homes for the elderly in Britain, and in the
2002 New Year Honours, he was knighted in recognition of his work on the Czech Kindertransport. [18]
[37][38][39]
He met the Queen again during her state visit to Bratislava, Slovakia, in October 2008.[40] In
2003, Winton received the Pride of Britain Award for Lifetime Achievement.[41] Winton was
awarded Order of Tom Garrigue Masaryk, Fourth Class, by the Czech President in 1998.[42] In