How a forgotten scrapbook revealed a secret rescue mission that saved 669 children.
In short: For nearly 50 years, Nicholas Winton kept his humanitarian work a secret. He was a British stockbroker who, on the eve of the Second World War, organized the rescue of 669 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. His life-saving efforts only surfaced when his wife discovered a dusty scrapbook in their attic.
In late 1938, following a call for help from colleagues in Prague, Nicholas Winton traveled to Czechoslovakia to assist with Jewish welfare work. Working from a dining room table in a Wenceslas Square hotel, he collaborated with volunteers like Trevor Chadwick and Doreen Warriner to navigate the complex legal requirements for evacuating children. The British government required a £50 warranty per child, a significant sum at the time, to ensure their eventual return. Winton successfully secured these guarantees and homes in Britain for 669 children, many of whom lost their parents in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Despite the magnitude of his actions, Winton remained silent about the operation for decades. It was not until 1988 that his wife, Grete Gjelstrup, found a detailed scrapbook in their attic containing the names of the children and their host families. This discovery led to his appearance on the BBC programme That's Life!, where he was famously reunited with many of the individuals he had saved. The revelation transformed him into a public figure, eventually leading to his knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003 for his services to humanity.
While Winton is often celebrated as a singular hero, historians and Winton himself have emphasized that the rescue was a collective effort. He spent only three weeks in Prague and relied on a dedicated team of volunteers who remained in the country as the Nazi occupation intensified. Scholars have cautioned against reducing this complex historical event to the story of a single saint, noting that many other contributors died unrecognized. Today, his legacy is honored through various memorials, including statues in London and Prague, and the naming of the Israeli Airforce Special Rescue Unit 669 in his tribute.
Winton lived a long life, passing away in 2015 at the age of 106. His death occurred exactly 76 years after the final group of children he helped were scheduled to leave Prague. Although he never returned to the Prague main railway station, a statue now stands there in his honor, serving as a permanent reminder of the lives he helped secure before the outbreak of the Second World War.
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