"The world has lost a great man. We must never forget Sir Nicholas Winton's humanity in saving so many children from the Holocaust," Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted as his tribute to Sir Nicholas Winton, who died on Wednesday.
The world has lost a great man. We must never forget Sir Nicholas Winton's humanity in saving so many children from the Holocaust.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) July 1, 2015
Sir Nicholas Winton died at the age of 106, but his memories of being a hero during the Holocaust will live on.
On the eve of the World War II, the 29-year-old, British broker, Sir Nicholas, arranged the escape of 669 Jewish children from Holocaust. The children are likely to be sent to the death camps, and fearing this thought led Winton to organize eight trains that will take the children through Germany to Britain.
The largest evacuation with 250 children in the train was scheduled to leave on September 3, 1939, the day Britain declared war on Germany, but the train never left, Express reports. It was prevented from leaving when Poland was invaded, and all the children on the train died along with 1.1 million of the Czech Jews at Auschwitz, Mail Online has learned.
More children were saved from Berlin and Vienna because the operation there were better organized and were well-financed. Winton almost worked alone.
He said, "Maybe a lot more could have been done. But much more time would have been needed, much more help would have been needed from other countries, much more money would have been needed, much more organization."
In a report from Slate, by that time, Sir Winton was planning to go to Switzerland for a ski on holiday but, the stockbroker decided to stop in Prague to assist a friend in the Jewish welfare work. His heroism did not stop from helping the children escape; he also helped them find homes. He looked for British families who are willing to fund £50 to look after the children in their homes, said BBC.
Due to his success in saving the children, Sir Nicholas was compared to Oskar Schindler, who saved 1,200 Jews during the war, but he was quick to brush it off, stating that unlike the German businessman, his life was never endangered, Express reported.
Winton had no plans of letting the world know about his heroism. It was only found out after almost half a century when his wife found the documents in their attic in 1988.
Many were saddened by his death, but his son-in-law, Stephen Watson confirmed that he died peacefully in his sleep at Wexham Hospital.
Many paid tribute to Sir Winton, including the grandchildren of one of his refugees. In a photo in Mail Online, a boy and a girl stood side by side, each holding a paper with words, "Thank You" and "For Our Lives." Former Labour MP, Lord Dubs, was one of the children who was put on the train out of Czechoslovakia, and he paid tribute to the man who saved his life.
"The real fact is that he was a man who saved my life and a lot of us who came on the Kindertransport owe him an enormous debt, " Dubs told BBC. "His legacy is that when there is a need for you to do something for your fellow human beings, you have got to do it."
Sir Nicholas was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003 and was honoured in the Czech Republic with an Order Of The White Lion last year.
