"Sir Nicholas, who prefers to be called Nicky, was a 29-year-old London stockbroker who gave up a skiing holiday to visit Prague and witness firsthand the refugees who were fleeing Nazi tyranny.
That visit led to his heroic deeds which enabled 669 children to escape.
Parents, desperate to save their children, sought his assistance and he established an organization to aid them.
He worked for weeks to find homes for them and also to arrange safe passage to Britain.
For years no one knew of Nicky’s efforts for these many children.
An episode of the BBC television program “That’s Life!” aired in 1988 and many of the children met for the first time this humble, beautiful man who had saved their lives.
A clip from that program was shown to the captivated audience last night as the son explained the profound effect on him to see his father wipe away tears when he met with his “other” children."
....The trains left Prague and saved 669 souls, until Sept. 1, 1939, when the largest group of 250 children was scheduled to leave.
Of course, on that day Hitler invaded Poland and the war had begun.
Most of those lives, along with most of the families of the 669, were lost.
Because of the determined effort of Nicky Winton and those who assisted him there were 669 saved. These “children” and their descendants number in the thousands and they have made their mark on the world in many different walks of life.
The beautiful part of this story is that many have befriended Nicky and his family.
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