Nicholas Winton Dies

Nicholas Winton Dies July 1, 2015

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Nicholas Winton kept a secret for much of his life.

It wasn’t until 1988 when his wife found a scrapbook in their attic that she learned the truth about her husband.

Pretty much on a whim canceling a skiing trip in the winter of 1938, when he instead flew to Prague to join a friend aiding refugees fleeing the Nazi occupation of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. He ended up being a principal organizer in the escape of nearly seven hundred mostly Jewish children.

He always seemed embarrassed at the hubbub. Vera Gissing, who wrote a biography, said of him. “Winton still shakes his head in bewilderment and disbelief when compared with Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg.” But, in fact he deserved the comparisons. He received numerous honors in the later years, including a knighthood.

Of course no recognition could be enough for this reluctant hero.

A shining example for all of us.

Nicholas Winton died today. He was one hundred and six years old.

He is survived by many of the children and their children and now their children, an estimated six thousand people…


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