Nicholas Winton: A Reluctant Hero

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During World War II, in Czechoslovakia’s capital city, Prague, Winton saved more than six hundred, mostly Jewish, children from the Holocaust (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Surprisingly, Winton is a reluctant hero. He did not tell anyone about his noble acts. The children he saved grew into adults and had children of their own. More than five thousand people worldwide owe their lives to Winton (Eurnekian). Nicholas Winton is truly a hero. In 1938, while Winton was working as a stockbroker in London, a friend called him to ask for help to evacuate refugees from Czechoslovakia. Nicholas Winton is from German- Jewish descent so he and his family were well aware of the threat Hitler posed to the Jewish children of Prague. In response, Winton arranged for eight trains to carry the children from Prague to England, where they were adopted by English families. Nicholas Winton…show more content…
He never said a word about his benevolent operations. In fact, his wife discovered a scrapbook hidden along with Nicholas’ belongings that were no longer in use (The Holocaust Explained). The scrapbook held records and pictures of every single child that entered onto any one of Winton’s transport operations. Sir Nicholas Winton has been given many awards. For example, according to the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney Australia’s website, Nicholas Winton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002 and became Sir Nicholas Winton. According to The New York Times, an asteroid was named after Sir Nicholas Winton and he was recognized as a “British Hero of The Holocaust” in 2010. According to the Association of Jewish Refugees, later this year, the Czechoslovakian President will award Sir Nicholas Winton the Order of The White Lion award, the highest governmental honor in Czechoslovakia. These are just a few of the many awards and recognitions he has received. Nicholas’ actions, that had been kept quiet for more than fifty years, came to the

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