Nicholas Winton - Holland

Holland

An important obstacle was getting official permission to cross into Holland, as the children were destined to embark the ferry in Hook of Holland. The Dutch had officially closed their borders to any Jewish refugees after the Kristallnacht and the Dutch border guards (marechaussee) actively hunted them and sent them back to Germany. The goings-on during the Kristallnacht were nevertheless well known in the Low Countries, as for instance from the Dutch-German border the synagogue in Aix-la-Chappelle could be seen burning, being only 3 miles away.

Winton nevertheless succeeded, thanks to the guarantees he had obtained from the British. After the first train, things went relatively well crossing Holland. Also active in saving Jewish children, mostly from Vienna and Berlin, was the Dutchwoman Gertruida Wijsmuller-Meier. The problem of the Jewish children was therefore well known in the Netherlands. There is not any known information regarding whether Sir Nicholas and 'Tante Truus' (auntie Truus), as she was commonly known, ever met. Tante Truus also managed to get her children – some 10,000 – mostly out through the Hook. In 2012, a statue was erected on the quai to commemorate all those who saved Jewish children. The Winton Train passed through Holland to the Hook in 2009, but went largely unnoticed.

Winton found homes for 669 children, many of whose parents perished in Auschwitz. Winton's mother also worked with Winton to place the children in homes, and later hostels. Throughout the summer he placed advertisements seeking families to take them in. The last group of 250, which had left Prague on 1 September 1939, was sent back because the Nazis had invaded Poland, marking the start of World War II.

With the coming of war, Winton sought registration as a conscientious objector and served with the Red Cross, but in 1940 changed to service in the Administrative and Special Duties Branch of the Royal Air Force. He was initially an airman, rising to sergeant by the time he was commissioned as an acting pilot officer on probation on 22 June 1944. On 17 August 1944, he was promoted to pilot officer on probation. He was promoted to war substantive flying officer on 17 February 1945. He retained his commission until 19 May 1954 when he relinquished it, retaining the rank of flight lieutenant.

Winton kept his humanitarian exploits under wraps for many years until his wife Grete found a detailed scrapbook in the attic in 1988. The scrapbook contained lists of the children, including their parents' names, and the names and addresses of the families that took them in. After sending letters to these addresses, 80 of "Winton's children" were found in Britain. The world found out about Winton's work in 1988 during an episode of the BBC television programme That's Life! when Winton was invited to be an audience member. At one point during the programme Winton's scrapbook was shown, and his achievements explained. The host of the programme, Esther Rantzen, then asked if there was anyone in the audience who owed their lives to Winton, and, if so, to stand – at which point more than two dozen audience members surrounding Winton rose and applauded.