Nicholas Winton: An Example Of Resistance In The Second World War
Nicholas Winton is an example of resistance in the Second World War. He is a hero who saved children from what would have almost certainly been a childhood of torture at best and death at worst. Winton is a kind man, to be sure, but for decades nobody knew the extent of his kindness. Despite his courageous efforts, it was not until 1988 that his actions became known publically. Currently, Nicholas Winton is 105 years old, living out the rest of his life as a recognized hero. During the war, Nicholas Winton was an English Stockbroker working in London. His parents were of German Jewish ancestry, which may have played a role in his desire to help other Jewish people. His mother also felt this desire and even helped him in his resistance efforts
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With the situation growing more threatening every day, Winton knew the best way to protect the children would be to get them out as quickly as possible. In order to do so, he established a children’s section of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia. Initially, he was not authorized to do so. Winton maneuvered around these restrictive institutions by forging documents where he simply copied their original header and adding “children’s section” to the bottom. As soon as he did this, he began taking applications from parents of Jewish children at his hotel in Prague. From there, he opened an office in central Prague. Thousands of parents began lining up outside of his office, begging him to help keep their children safe. After just a few weeks, he returned to central London. His mother headed the children’s section of his organization and this was the only way that he involved any member of his family throughout his resistance. Nicholas Winton wrote to President Roosevelt in America, asking for America to take children from Czechoslovakia but the States did not accept his request. His goal was to get as many children out of Czechoslovakia and to Great Britain before the outbreak of the war. The way that he chose to go about this was similar to the Kindertransport in
With the situation growing more threatening every day, Winton knew the best way to protect the children would be to get them out as quickly as possible. In order to do so, he established a children’s section of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia. Initially, he was not authorized to do so. Winton maneuvered around these restrictive institutions by forging documents where he simply copied their original header and adding “children’s section” to the bottom. As soon as he did this, he began taking applications from parents of Jewish children at his hotel in Prague. From there, he opened an office in central Prague. Thousands of parents began lining up outside of his office, begging him to help keep their children safe. After just a few weeks, he returned to central London. His mother headed the children’s section of his organization and this was the only way that he involved any member of his family throughout his resistance. Nicholas Winton wrote to President Roosevelt in America, asking for America to take children from Czechoslovakia but the States did not accept his request. His goal was to get as many children out of Czechoslovakia and to Great Britain before the outbreak of the war. The way that he chose to go about this was similar to the Kindertransport in