How Nicholas Winton Saved 669 Children from the Nazis and Eventually Reunited with Some of Those Children on BBC’s “That’s Life”, Where His Efforts Were Recognised for the First Time.
Born Nicholas George Wertheim on 19 May 1909 in Hampstead, London, to German-Jewish parents who had converted to Christianity and anglicised their name,
Nicholas Winton (1909-2015) in 1938 by the Associated Press
Winton led an unremarkable professional life in banking until a pivotal trip changed everything.
In December 1938, at the age of 29, he cancelled a skiing holiday in Switzerland to visit Prague at the request of a friend involved in refugee aid.
There, in the wake of the Munich Agreement and Kristallnacht, he encountered desperate families fleeing Nazi persecution and thousands of refugees in dire conditions.
Determined to help where governments hesitated, Winton collaborated with a small team in Prague – including Doreen Warriner, Trevor Chadwick, and others – while operating from London.
He helped establish the Children’s Section of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia, raising funds, securing foster families across Britain, and navigating bureaucracy to obtain visas and travel permits.
Each child required a £50 guarantee (equivalent to thousands today) to ensure they would not burden the state.
Between March and August 1939, Winton organised eight Kindertransport trains that safely brought 669 children – mostly Jewish – to Britain. The largest group, 241 children, departed on 1 July 1939.
Tragically, a ninth train carrying 250 more was stopped on 1 September 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland and World War II began. Almost all of those children perished in concentration camps.
Winton returned to his career after the war, working in finance and later for humanitarian organisations.
Remarkably, he spoke little of his efforts, keeping them hidden even from his family. For nearly 50 years, the story remained buried – until 1988, when his wife Grete discovered a forgotten scrapbook in their attic containing photographs, lists of children, and correspondence.
The revelation led to one of television’s most emotional moments: an appearance on the BBC programme That’s Life!, where host Esther Rantzen surprised Winton by filling the studio audience with dozens of the now-adult survivors he had saved.
Visibly moved, Winton later reflected that he had simply done what needed to be done, expressing regret only that more could not have been rescued.
Honoured extensively in later life – knighted in 2003, awarded the Order of the White Lion by the Czech Republic, and celebrated worldwide – Winton lived to 106, passing away on 1 July 2015, exactly 76 years after the largest transport he organised.
His extraordinary legacy endures through thousands of descendants of the “Winton children” and continues to move new generations.
“One Life” (2023)
The 2023 biographical drama One Life, directed by James Hawes, brings his story vividly to the screen.
Anthony Hopkins portrays the elderly Winton in the 1980s, grappling with memories and seeking recognition for the children’s plight, while Johnny Flynn plays the determined younger man in 1938–39.
Helena Bonham Carter co-stars as Winton’s formidable mother, Babette, who aided the rescue efforts.
Critically acclaimed for its restrained emotion and powerful performances,
One Life serves as a timely reminder of individual courage amid humanity’s darkest chapters – and the profound difference one person can make.
For more information visit the Nicholas Winton website here
