Nicholas Winton (born 19 May 1909) was a British activist who saved hundreds of children. He brought Jewish kids from Czechoslovakia to Britain who was at risk from Nazis.
People still remember him for his work and a British TV show named him as “British Schindler”. He rescued around 669 children and in a safe way brought them to his country.
He received many awards for his bravery and service. Winton is recognized as one of the greatest humanitarians until now. The Czech government honored him with “The order of white lion”.
Many movies were also made on his life and one of them is “Nicky’s Family” which released in the year 2011 on 16th June. Wikicelebs.com has brought some interesting data about Nicholas’ life and the facts you must know.
Childhood, Parents, Siblings & Education
Many people do not know but Nicholas Winton was born as a Jew in the year 1909 (age 106 years old; as in 2015) on 19th May. He later became Christian and from Wertheim he became Winton.
Nicholas’ parents are originally Germans and they shifted to the UK in the early 1900. They started living in Hampstead, London, United Kingdom. This is Winton’s birthplace. His father Rudolph Wertheim was quite educated and he used to work as a Bank Manager whereas his mother Barbara was a housewife.
He attended a school named Stowe and his siblings also visited the same place. He has a brother named Robert and a sister named Charlotte. He used to attend night classes as during the day he used to volunteer at different banks like Midland Bank.
Rescue Mission
In the year 1938 after canceling a Holiday trip, Winton went to Prague. There he worked with his friend Martin Blake who asked him for help.
The British govt. said that they will allow only those Jews who are below 17 and had their own place to stay. The government also said that they must deposit £50 for each person so that they can spend this money to go back to their own country.
They received donations from the people of Britain which helped in providing deposits.
There was an obstacle named Netherland. At that time if any Jew was found crossing the borders then the Netherland used to hand them over to Germany. But luckily Slowly-slowly he became successful in bringing kids to the UK.
He also asked the people of his motherland to adopt these kids so that they can have their own shelter. Winton’s mother also parted a great role in this.
When he was trying to bring the last 250 kids then suddenly Nazis came to the country. Sadly out of 250 children who boarded the train, 2 left alive.
Many other people also played an important role in this named Nicholas Stopford, Bill Barazetti, Trevor Chadwick, Doreen Warriner, and Josephine Pike.
Personal Life
After the war, he met a lady named Grete Gjelstrup in Paris. They both used to work together.
Their love affair started and later they got married in the year 1948 on October 31st. Originally, the lady is Danish and used to work as a secretary.
They have three kids which consist of two sons and a daughter. Sadly one of his sons named Robin Winton died at the young age of only 6. His other kids are Barbara and Nick Winton.
Death Cause
He lived a life in which only a few people gets to live. In the last week of June month of 2015, he faced some health issues. He got admitted to Wexham Park Hospital which is in Slough, United Kingdom.
After staying in the hospital for a week on 1st July 2015 he left the world while he was asleep. The cause of Nicholas Winton’s death is said to be a cardio and respiratory system failure.
Winton was 106 years old when he died. In 2020 his loved ones celebrated his 111th birthday.
Some Lesser Known Facts about Nicholas Winton
- In the second world war, he joined the British army and became aircraftsman. This is considered the lowest rank in the army.
- But later he reached the rank of sergeant. In the year 1944, he became an acting pilot officer.
- Other than the army he worked as a stockbroker in London Stock Exchange.
- He also worked with different banks in different countries. Like in Hamburg he served at Behrens bank and Wasserman bank.
- He also went to Italy where he got a job at Banque Nationale de Crédit. Winton used to work in different financial entities. He kept doing his humanitarian work.
- His wife also used to work. As for now, there are no proper records to judge Winton’s net worth but it has to be around $1-5 million.
- During his schooling, he came out as a great Fencer.
- He had a healthy life of 106 years. Nicholas Winton was a 5 ft 11 in tall in height and his weight is 77 Kg.
- He was a great candidate to represent Britain in the Olympics but due to the war, the games canceled.
- Queen Elizabeth Knighted him in 2003 for his service that he provided to humanity.
- Baron Dubs is one of the children that he saved in 1938. For your information let me tell you that he is a very famous British politician who is also a former MP.
- He also requested the US president to provide help to those who were stuck in Prague but they refused.
- Only Sweden is the country that came forward to help Jews at that time.
- His marriage happened in Denmark at a town called Vejle.
- He even stood for municipal elections but lost.
- His son died of meningitis which is a brain disease.
- In a Czech railway station, there is a statue of Nicholas Winton.
- There is also a minor planet named after him by the Czech astronomers. The named it 19384 Winton.
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