‘I just saw what was going on and did what I could to help.’

Sir Nicholas Winton

INTRODUCTION

Nicholas George Winton was a British humanitarian who rescued a total of 669 Jewish children from the then Czechoslovakia from the Holocaust in 1938/39 by organising child transports to Great Britain, together with others. He continued his career in finance, while his rescue deeds remained undiscovered for decades. It was not until 1988 that his heroic deed became known, when his wife Grete Gjelstrup found an old notebook with the names of the rescued children and the story was subsequently publicised. Winton was awarded numerous honours for his humanitarian efforts, including a knighthood in 2003. His humility and pragmatic idealism remain an inspiring legacy.

THE STORY

Early life

Nicky, Lottie and Bobby at home in the garden, circa 1917 (Courtesy of the Sir Nicholas Winton Memorial Trust).

Sir Nicholas Winton was born on 19 May 1909 in the affluent district of Hampstead in North London. His parents, Rudolf and Barbara Wertheimer, came from what is now Germany and were German-Jewish immigrants. Even before Nicholas was born, the family had settled in the UK and were part of the respected Jewish middle class. In order to integrate better into British society, the family changed their name from ‘Wertheimer’ to “Wortham”, and finally to ‘Winton’ in 1939.

Nicholas’ father, Rudolf Wertheimer, was a successful banker. The family lived in an environment that was intellectually stimulating and culturally open and Nicholas’ parents converted to Christianity after immigrating. Nicholas Winton had two siblings, his older sister Charlotte, called Lottie, and his younger brother Robert, called Bobby. Nicholas was strongly influenced by his parents, who instilled in him the importance of compassion and a sense of responsibility. As a result, the young Nicholas developed a pronounced social awareness that was strongly influenced by his family’s liberal values. His father in particular was strongly committed to justice in society and the inclusion of minorities.

Education and early career path

Winner of a Hamburg fencing competition in October 1929, Nicholas Winton (right), came 2nd. (Courtesy of the Sir Nicholas Winton Memorial Trust.)

Winton attended various prestigious schools in England, including Stowe School, a recently founded renowned educational institution. Despite his academic talent, Winton completed his school studies without any formal qualifications. Nevertheless, he demonstrated a remarkable talent for fencing at a young age and joined the British fencing team. His education was characterised by a clear social awareness and political commitment, which brought him into contact with left-liberal circles. Even at a young age, he showed great interest in socialism, had contact with various leading figures in the British labour movement and was involved in social groups and socialist circles that campaigned against the growing threat of National Socialism in Europe. These political convictions and his growing understanding of the impending threat of National Socialism in Europe would later have a significant impact on his decision to actively campaign for the rescue of Jewish children.

Nicholas began his career in the financial sector as a stockbroker. This career decision took him to the European financial centres of Hamburg, Berlin and Paris. There he gained international professional experience before returning to London to work in the stock market. A promising career in the world of finance lay ahead of him.

The political situation in Europe in the 1930s

In the 1930s, major upheavals took place in Europe, which ultimately led to the outbreak of the Second World War. After Adolf Hitler took power in 1933, the Nazi regime developed into a totalitarian state with racist ideologies. The Nuremberg Laws (1935) deprived the Jewish population of their rights and marginalised them socially. Political opposition was silenced, while anti-Semitism and the persecution of minorities continued to increase.

The Munich Agreement of 1938 exacerbated the situation, as Great Britain and France allowed Hitler to annex the Sudetenland, which ran along Czechoslovakia’s borders with the German Reich and Austria. The aim of this appeasement policy was to keep the peace, but it led to the Third Reich expanding further.

A large part of the Jewish population tried to flee the Sudetenland. After the invasion of the Wehrmacht in 1939, the persecution of the Jews of Prague and the surrounding areas began; they were herded into ghettos and suffered from hunger and disease.

Nicholas Winton in Prague (1938-1939)

Nicholas Winton had planned a skiing trip to Switzerland in December 1938, shortly before Christmas. But a telegram from his friend Martin Blake, who worked for the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia (BCRC) in Prague, had a profound effect on his life and that of many Jewish children. Together with Marie Schmolková and Hannah Steiner, representatives of Jewish aid organisations in Prague, Blake approached his friend and asked Winton to come to Prague so that he could personally experience the dramatic situation and support them in their work. Instead of taking a holiday in Switzerland, Winton decided to travel to Prague. This was the beginning of a rescue mission that would save hundreds of lives.

Upon his arrival in Prague, Winton immediately realised the catastrophic situation that had resulted from the annexation of the Sudetenland by the Nazi regime. Thousands of Jews and political opponents had left the Sudetenland and were now living in overcrowded refugee camps in miserable conditions. The Jewish population faced an uncertain future and suffered from increasing anti-Semitism and repression.

Copy of Winton’s letter to his mother dated 1 January 1939, in which he describes his first impressions after arriving in Prague. The original letter can be found in a scrapbook that he received from another volunteer after the end of the Kindertransport. The scrapbook was donated to Yad Vashem by Winton in 1989. (Courtesy of the Sir Nicholas Winton Memorial Trust)

Winton was very disturbed by what he saw. The British Committee for Refugees and other aid organisations on the ground were mainly responsible for the elderly and sick, while the children were often ignored. Winton soon realised that saving the children was a top priority, as they were one of the most vulnerable groups and at great risk. He realised that swift action was needed to protect the children. He therefore decided to focus on rescuing the children. In addition to the threat of deportation, the children suffered greatly from inadequate hygienic conditions, hunger and separation from their families.

Winton immediately began organising child transports (“Kindertransport”). He endeavoured to obtain the necessary papers so that the children could be brought to the UK. This included visas and the financial security required by the British Home Office for each child. He also had to find a British host family for each child who could take them in.

However, Winton did not work alone, but together with other volunteers such as Doreen Warriner, Trevor Chadwick and Marie Schmolková. Together, they were able to organise eight transports from Prague to the UK within a few months, bringing a total of 669 children to safety. This happened at a time when diplomatic relations between the European countries were increasingly strained and war was imminent.

The organisation of the Kindertransports

Winton only stayed in Prague for three weeks; his employer at the time would not grant him any longer leave. He returned to Great Britain in January 1939, but had laid an important foundation stone for the rescue operation during his time in Prague. In his room at the Hotel “Europa” in Prague, he had drawn up lists of children to be rescued. Back in London, he took over the organisational and logistical tasks for the planned child transports from there. However, the rescue operation faced major bureaucratic hurdles. Each child needed a British visa and accommodation with a foster family who could take them in. Winton therefore published advertisements in British newspapers and contacted various Jewish and humanitarian organisations in order to find enough foster families. The British government also demanded a financial guarantee for each child. To ensure that the child would not later become a burden on the state, all host families had to pay a deposit of £50 (in 2023 this was equivalent to around £4,000). Despite the fact that this sum represented a considerable burden for many families, Winton managed to collect many donations to cover the guarantees. He used his broad network in the financial world and placed newspaper adverts. In addition to fundraising, Winton also used the press to draw attention to the situation of children in Czechoslovakia and raise awareness of the need for support.

Marie Schmolková (Public domain, National Archives of the Czech Republic)

Winton’s aim was to bring as many children as possible from Czechoslovakia to Great Britain before the German forces marched into Prague. While Winton obtained the necessary authorisations and collected funds in London, other volunteers prepared the transports on site in Prague. Doreen Warriner and Marie Schmolková were among the driving forces. From 1933 onwards, Marie Schmolková worked tirelessly on behalf of the refugees seeking protection from the Nazi regime in Czechoslovakia. She gained immense importance in the organisation of the emigration of Jews. She died of a heart attack in 1940. In contrast to Nicholas Winton, however, her commitment was hardly recognised. The historian Anna Hájková says of her: “Schmolka’s tragedy is that she was a woman and that she died in a free country. As the Czechoslovak Jewish refugees became British, the woman who made their new lives possible became forgotten.” (Jewish Voice for Labour)

The planning of the Kindertransports was a major challenge from a logistical point of view. The children were to be transported from the Netherlands to Great Britain by ship, but first they had to travel by train through Nazi-controlled Germany. The first transports finally began in March 1939, all of which were successful despite the imminent danger and difficult circumstances. As the children were separated from their parents and did not know what awaited them in the future, these journeys were not only physically but also psychologically stressful for them. Many of the children who were rescued in this way had to struggle with the psychological consequences for a long time to come.

The Kindertransports (March–August 1939)

Together with other volunteers, Nicholas Winton organised a total of eight Kindertransports between March and August 1939, with which 669 Jewish children were brought to safety from Czechoslovakia. These transports, known as ‘Kindertransports’, were among the most important rescue operations carried out before the outbreak of the Second World War. They took place under challenging circumstances and required extensive logistical planning, bureaucratic difficulties and a high degree of individual commitment. The Prague team led by Chadwick, Warriner, Schmolková and other volunteers looked after the children on site, while Winton led the logistical and bureaucratic organisation from London.

At Liverpool Street station in London, the children were welcomed by their new foster families after the risky journey. It was not an easy situation for the children. They arrived in a foreign country and did not know whether they would ever see their families again. In fact, most of the parents of the rescued children were murdered in the Holocaust and there was no reunion.

The last transport was planned for 1 September 1939. But on that very day, the German Wehrmacht invaded Poland and the Second World War began. This ninth transport, which was intended to rescue 250 children, was therefore cancelled. Of the 250 children who were to be rescued, only two survived the Holocaust.

The role of Winton’s family and friends

Barbara Winton, Nicholas Winton’s mother, organising the Kindertransports. (With the kind permission of the Sir Nicholas Winton Memorial Trust)

The child transports were only possible thanks to a broad network of supporters, including Nicholas Winton’s family and many of his friends. Without this support network, the rescue operation would not have been possible. Barbara Winton, Nicholas’ mother, was one of her son’s most important supporters. She was immediately aware of the importance of his project and supported him in the organisation, both morally and practically. She helped to find British host families who wanted to take in the rescued children. She was also responsible for the arrival of the children in London and co-operated with the authorities and volunteers to ensure that the child transports ran smoothly.

The British host families who took in the rescued children also played an important role. Due to the outbreak of the Second World War, the foster families were not, as originally planned, only temporary accommodation for the children, but offered them a new home and a safe environment for the duration of the war.

The fate of the rescued children

The difficulties that came with being separated from their families and settling into a new life in a foreign country shaped the lives of the rescued children. At the same time, their stories are an impressive example of people’s resilience and will to survive. Many of the rescued children stayed in the UK after the war and started families of their own.

Some of them have recorded their stories, including Vera Gissing, for example. As a young girl, she owed her life to one of the Kindertransports and later wrote about it in books and lectures. She always emphasised how important Winton’s courage and modesty were. Alfred Dubs, a politician from Great Britain, was also rescued in this way as a child. As a member of the British parliament, he later campaigned for the rights of refugees and minorities himself.

Winton’s life after the war

From left to right: Grete, Nicholas, Kirsten – Grete’s sister, after the wedding in Vejle, Denmark, 1948 (Courtesy of the Sir Nicholas Winton Memorial Trust)

For decades after the end of the war, Winton did not speak about his actions during the Holocaust. He married Grete Gjelstrup, returned to his profession as a stockbroker and also devoted himself to various charitable projects. In the 1950s, for example, he was the director of a nursing home, was committed to helping disadvantaged people and worked in international development co-operation. He remained true to his social convictions and the values that his family had passed on to him. His marriage to Grete resulted in three children: Nicholas (born 1952), Barbara (born 1953) and Robin (born 1956). Robin was born with Down’s syndrome, but instead of placing him in a care centre, as was the norm at the time, his parents looked after their son at home. Realising the lack of support for families in a similar situation, Winton founded a branch of the Royal Mencap Society in Maidenhead. This is a charity organisation that supports people with learning disabilities.

It may be surprising why Winton never made an issue of his involvement in the rescue operations. Until 1988, his contribution to the rescue of the Jewish children was hardly known. Even afterwards, Winton repeatedly emphasised that he did not regard his actions as heroic and had only done what was necessary. He was reluctant to be in the limelight and repeatedly emphasised that the real heroes were the numerous helpers and host families who had made the rescue possible.

Family photo, taken around 1956, from left to right: Nicky, Lottie, Grete, Bobby, his wife Heather, grandmother Barbara. Children from left to right: Barbara, Peter (Bobby and Heather’s first child), Nicholas. (Courtesy of the Sir Nicholas Winton Memorial Trust)

Nicky with Robin, his and Grete’s third child. Robin died in 1962, the day before his 6th birthday. (Courtesy of the Sir Nicholas Winton Memorial Trust)

The late discovery of his rescue operation

Nicholas Winton’s humanitarian deeds only became known in 1988. Prior to this, his wife Grete had found an old notebook in the attic containing documents and lists of the children he had rescued. This notebook also contained letters from concerned parents asking for the protection of their children. Until then, Winton had not mentioned his efforts to her. Grete gave the notebook to Holocaust researcher Elizabeth Maxwell, who looked into it and informed the editors of the BBC television programme ‘That’s Life!’. In February 1988, Winton was sitting in the audience of this TV programme, unaware that in a few moments he would be reunited with some of the children he had rescued. At one point in the programme, presenter Esther Rantzen asked the audience to stand up if they owed their lives to Nicholas Winton. Emotional scenes followed as more and more people around Winton stood up and he realised how many lives he had impacted. Overnight, Winton’s rescue efforts became so well known and a great deal of public interest in his story emerged. Winton became internationally recognised due to the growing coverage, but continued to emphasise that he had simply been ‘in the right place at the right time’. Many of the rescued children – now adults – stayed in touch with Winton after the BBC programme. They felt great gratitude towards him and Winton remained in close contact with many of them until his death. Nicholas Winton died in 2015 at the age of 106.

In 2003, Nicholas Winton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, one of the highest honours in Great Britain. In 2014, just one year before his death, the Czech Republic awarded Winton the ‘Order of the White Lion’, the highest state honour. A statue in his honour was erected at Liverpool Street station in London, where the rescued children arrived in the UK. Many films and documentaries have also been made about Winton’s life.

The rescue operations of Nicholas Winton, Doreen Warriner, Trevor Chadwick and Marie Schmolková illustrate how important it is to act in times of crisis instead of turning away. Their courage shows the importance of individual action – the rescued children and their descendants are the living legacy of these rescues.

Nicholas Winton at a reception in London with five of “his children” and the Czech Ambassador, around 1998, from left to right: Lord Alfred Dubs, Ambassador Pavel Seifter – Czech Ambassador to the Court of St. James, Nicky, Vera Gissing, Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines, Karel Reisz, Ute Klein. (With the kind permission of the Sir Nicholas Winton Memorial Trust)

Authors: Ariya Singh / Magdalena Köhler

Translation: Magdalena Köhler

Sources:

BBC. “Holocaust ‘hero’ Sir Nicholas Winton dies aged 106.” 01.07.2015. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-33350880 [last retrieved: 27.05.2025].

Brade, Laura E. und Holmes, Rose. “Troublesome Sainthood: Nicholas Winton and the Contested History of Child Rescue in Prague, 1938–1940.” Indiana University Press, History & Memory, Volume 29, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2017, pp. 3-40.

Jewish Voice for Labour. “Marie Schmolka, who inspired the Kindertransport.” 30.10.2017. https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/marie-schmolka-inspired-kindertransport/ [last retrieved: 28.05.2025].

Lebendiges Museum Online. “Das Münchner Abkommen.” 14.09.2014. https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/ns-regime/aussenpolitik/muenchner-abkommen-1938 [last retrieved: 27.05.2025].

National Holocaust Museum, Nicholas Winton. Webseite: https://www.holocaust.org.uk/nicholas-winton [last retrieved: 27.05.2025].

Sir Nicholas Winton Memorial Trust. Webseite: https://www.nicholaswinton.com/ [last retrieved: 27.05.2025].

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC. “Nicholas Winton and the Rescue of Children from Czechoslovakia, 1938–1939” 08.09.2023. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nicholas-winton-and-the-rescue-of-children-from-czechoslovakia-1938-1939 [last retrieved: 27.05.2025].

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