Courage and Kindness Sir Nicholas Winton Reflection week beginning 6 th June 2016

Sir Nicholas Winton Nicholas Winton was born on 19 May 1909 in London, a son of bank manager, Rudolph Wertheim and wife Barbara. His parents were German Jews who had moved to London two years earlier. Winton left school in 1923 without qualifications, he became a broker at the London Stock Exchange. Though a stockbroker, Winton passionate about helping the poor and vulnerable. He became part of a political circle opposed to appeasement (those politicians seeking to work with Hitler). He was very concerned about the dangers posed by the Nazis.

Saving Lives 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, who a member of the British Committee for Refugees, and had called Winton to ask him to assist in Jewish welfare work. Winton single-handedly established an organization 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 November 1938, the House of Commons approved allowing the entry into Britain of refugees younger than 17. Winton was in Prague for only about three weeks before the Nazis occupied the country.

Saving Lives An important obstacle was getting official permission to cross into the Netherlands, as the children were to embark on the ferry there, to get to the UK. After Kristallnacht in November 1938, the Dutch government officially closed its borders to any Jewish refugees. The border guards, searched for them and returned any found to Germany. Winton succeeded, thanks to the guarantees he had obtained from Britain. After the first train, the process of crossing the Netherlands went smoothly.

Winton ultimately found homes in Britain for 669 children,many of whose parents would perish in the Auschwitz concentration camp. His mother worked with him to place the children in homes. The last group of 250, scheduled to leave Prague on 1 September 1939, were unable to depart. With Hitlers’ invasion of Poland on the same day, the Second World War had begun. Of the children due to leave on that train, only two survived the war.

Watch the video Watch the video about Winton’s achievements in a recent BBC news story ws/world

To think about….or pray Think about the courage it took for Winton to do what he did. He stood up for his beliefs, but also acted on them in a practical way. How are we responding to the current refugee crisis where Syrian children are escaping from war…what do we believe, and what do we do?