← Back to Forgotten Heroes
Nicholas Winton
Stockbroker • Britain • 1909–2015
Organized the rescue of 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia before the war, and kept it secret for 50 years.
Nicholas Winton was a 29-year-old British stockbroker who canceled a skiing holiday in December 1938 and went to Prague instead. Over the next nine months, from his bedroom desk, he arranged trains carrying 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia to safety in Britain, finding British sponsors who would pay a 50-pound guarantee bond for each child. The last train, scheduled for September 1, 1939, was stopped when Germany invaded. All 250 children aboard were lost. Winton kept the rescue secret for 50 years -- not even telling his wife.