Man Who Saved 669 Kids In The Holocaust Had NO CLUE He Was Sitting With Them 50 Years Later!

During World War II, a British broker, Nicholas Winton risked his life to save 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia. He ensured that they safely reached Britain during the testing times. He never spoke of it. He locked the episode as a memory in form of a scrapbook with the names, photos and details of the children he saved. It wasn’t until his wife found out about it after almost fifty years.

In 1988, he was invited as an audience member on the UK Television show, That’s Life! He was sitting in the audience, unaware that more than two dozens of the audience members sitting around him were the children he had saved during The Holocaust.

Uploaded by aggy007, this video shows his unguarded reaction will melt your heart.

 

Extremely humble, here are some interesting facts about Sir Nicholas we dug up for you.

1. His parents were German Jews but had converted to Christianity. Their surname was Wertheim, but they changed it to Winton.

2. He was touted to be ‘British Schindler’ by the British press and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003.

 

3. For his selfless work, he was honoured with the Czech Order of the White Lion in 2014 by Czech President Miloš Zeman.

4. 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.

 

5. Winton had found homes in Britain for 669 children, many of whose parents perished in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

6. He also wrote to US politicians such as Roosevelt, asking them for help. Around two thousand more children might’ve been saved if had they helped. But only Sweden took any besides those sent to Britain.

 

7. Out of the 669 children saved more than 370 have never been traced.

8. Winton, 106, died peacefully in his sleep on the morning of July 1, 2015 from a cardio-respiratory failure.

 

9. There’s a documentary, called “Nicky’s Family – The True Story of ‘the British Schindler’ Sir Nicholas Winton”, made on him.

10. The minor planet ‘19384 Winton’ was named in his honour by Czech astronomers Jana Tichá and Miloš Tichý.

The Holocaust brings back haunting memories to anyone who’s remotely connected to it or has been through the hell days. But due to compassionate people such as Sir Nicholas, so many lives were saved.

H/T: Bored Panda