Holocaust Hero

Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton honoured in a memorial service.

15:20 20 May 2016

A memorial service has been held for Sir Nicholas Winton who organised a rescue operation called Czech Kindertransport that saved hundreds of children on the eve of the Second World War. Some 28 of those he saved were among 400 people who attended the event at London’s Guildhall, along with Czech, Slovak and UK government representatives.

 

Sir Nicholas died on 1 July last year aged 106.

 

The Czech Kindertransport became a public knowledge only in 1988 when presenter Esther Rantzen reunited some of those saved with Sir Nicholas.

 

Esther Rantzen spoke at the service sharing the moment when two women who were rescued from the Nazis met Sir Nicholas on That’s Life.

 

She said: "For the only time in my professional life I had to stop, get off my chair, get to behind the scenery, wipe my eyes, come back again and continue with the programme, because the impact of that moment, when people for the first time had the chance to meet their hero."

 

One of the rescued children, Ruth, who was 13 when she travelled to London, spoke at the service where she said that she ended up looking after a baby that travelled with her group.

 

"My memory of looking out of the window and seeing all of the faces of our relatives, tear-stained and in great worry, will stay with me forever," she said.