The Story of Nicholas Winton, The “British Schindler” Who Saved 669 Children from the Holocaust

In the dark months leading up to World War II, a young London stockbroker named Nicholas Winton embarked on a secret mission that would save the lives of 669 children. In December 1938, after canceling a ski trip to instead visit Prague at a friend’s request, Winton was horrified by the plight of Jewish refugees in Czechoslovakia. With the Nazis tightening their grip and Britain accepting only child refugees from Germany and Austria, he realized Czech children had no escape route.

Winton and a small team set up an office in Prague, meeting desperate parents willing to send their children to safety. They compiled lists of children, secured British foster homes, and, when official visas were delayed, forged documents to expedite the process. They even used bribes to evade Nazi suspicion. Between March and August 1939, eight trains carried the children through Nazi Germany to the Netherlands, where boats ferried them to England. The ninth train, with 250 children, was scheduled to depart on September 1, 1939—the day Germany invaded Poland. The borders closed, and those children were lost.

Winton kept his extraordinary deeds a secret for nearly 50 years. His wife discovered his scrapbook of children’s names and photos in their attic in 1988. This led to his story becoming public, culminating in an emotional 1988 BBC television reunion where he was surprised by dozens of the adults he had saved as children. He was later celebrated as the “British Schindler,” though he modestly insisted he was no hero, saying he was never in danger and that his colleagues on the ground in Prague deserved more credit. Nicholas Winton died in 2015 at the age of 106, leaving behind a legacy defined not by seeking glory, but by quiet, determined action that rescued hundreds from almost certain death.