Sometimes real heroes are just ordinary people who do extra-ordinary things. One such ordinary hero was Nicholas Winton who, following the 1938 German annexation of the Sudetenland in what was Czechoslovakia, travelled to Prague to help deal with the ensuing refugee crisis that was overwhelming the city. Aided by a small and very brave band of fellow heroes, together they saved 669 – mostly Jewish – children from the Nazis. It was part of the much broader ‘Kindertransport’ programme across Western Europe which, in Britain alone, saved around 10,000 children – once again, mostly Jewish. But it couldn’t last. The rescue missions hit the buffers once war was declared in 1939. Tragically, many of the children who arrived on Britain’s shores were the only members of their families who survived the Holocaust.
A quiet and humble soul, Nicholas Winton’s story remained untold for 50 years until in 1988 it was finally picked up by a national newspaper and the That’s Life TV show on the Beeb. And now the heroic tale is the subject of a remarkable film One Life, with Anthony Hopkins brilliantly playing Winton in his dotage and Helena Bonham Carter as his formidable mother in earlier years, who ran the show at the London end.
Along with others, we sat through the film in stunned silence and didn’t rise from our seats until after the final credits had rolled. Winton was later knighted for services to humanity and died in 2015 at the grand old age of 106.
Here’s the trailer followed by original 1988 footage from That’s Life.
For the recreation of the That’s Life scene, the audience in the film was made up of the descendants of ‘Nicky’s children’.
“Save a life, save the World,” Winton says in the film. As we left the cinema, I couldn’t help thinking that despite his amazing story of hope, history just carries on repeating itself over and over again.
Perking the Pansies 
I remember seeing a video of the TV program in which he was recognized. The video left me in tears as did the trailer of this movie.
I have, I hope, helped save a few lives, those of Guatemalan refugees in the 1980s. From 1986 to 1989, I owned a house in Kansas City, Missouri.
Everyone wondered why a single woman bought a six bedroom house in a mixed-race neighborhood.
Easy. I filled it with refugees. At times there were refugees and also abused women or homeless people.
I played a small role in the underground railroad of the 1980s, but that work was the finest thing I have done in my life.
No comparison at all to this man. Look what he did! I never went to Guatemala and rescued people. I only assisted on my end.
I can’t wait to see this movie! Thank you for letting me know about it.
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What an inspiring story. Amazing. You are a hero too. And heroes are in short supply these days, I think.
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I don’t think I’m a hero, Jack. I did what I needed to do.
I had visited Guatemala and heard some peoples’ stories. There is no way I could not get involved.
I worked with refugees for about 10 years in Arizona, and Missouri, and then when I relocated back to Arizona, I lived right on the border and started doing border work.
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Modest as well a heroic 😀 Well I, for one, think you’re remarkable.
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We visited a church here in London. We just wandered in because it was beautiful and open. St Steven’s near Westminster Abby. They were giving classes and helping refugees. It was quite moving.
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Thankfully, there are still some kind souls out there who try to make a difference.
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That is sort of how I got involved with Guatemalan refugees in the 1980s. I happened upon some in a church I was visiting. It changed my life.
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When I first heard about this man, I was amazed and so moved. He is a shining example of “one man/woman can make a difference.”
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Absolutely. As I said in an earlier reply, heroes seem to be in short supply these days, sadly.
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