Before the outbreak of World War II, this ordinary Englishman organized eight trains to send 669 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to Britain, passing through concentration camps and dying. In the past 70 years, about 6,000 of these "Winton children" and their descendants survived because of Winton.
This hero who "saved a generation of Czech Jews" was called Schindler in Britain, and he was knighted by the Queen of England. The Czech President personally awarded him the highest honor "White Lion Medal", and the "children" saved by him regarded him as their biological father. His statues stand in London and Prague stations, and even an asteroid named after him was found in the Czech Republic.
But until now, this stubborn old man who "concealed" his charity for half a century still stubbornly believes that he just did something that normal people can do, and anyone can do it, but Europe was crazy at that time.
1938 when British prime minister chamberlain waved the Munich agreement cheerfully and "brought peace back to Britain", Winton, a German Jewish immigrant, was not happy at all: "I know more about what is happening in Germany than most people, especially those politicians. At that time, at the invitation of a friend, Nicholas winton, a 29-year-old stockbroker, temporarily canceled his plan to go skiing in Switzerland on New Year's Eve and went to Prague instead.
250,000 refugees who have just escaped from the Sudetenland occupied by the German army are crowded in this city in the shadow of war. Many Jewish parents know that they are doomed and want to send their children to a safe place with their last strength. The despair and sadness they saw in the Czech refugee camp made their friends cry in the tent. Winton immediately learned to restrain himself from being swallowed up by emotions in order to concentrate all his energy on what he could do.
When the historical train galloped in the direction of derailment, the "Winton Train" quietly started.
Winton set up an office dedicated to helping children and refugees, receiving Jewish parents who came to register their children's information from morning till night, and then lobbying the authorities of various countries to accept these children non-stop. * * * Only when Britain agrees to accept these small refugees will it agree to issue visas, but Winton is required to find a family willing to adopt each Jewish child in Britain.
"These Jewish refugee children are a thorn in Hitler's side. I decided to try to help them get a pass to England. I think, if what you do is reasonable in essence, of course you can do it. Winton made a batch of small cards with children's information printed on them. After returning home from vacation, he adopted families one by one, not only got a visa, but also raised 50 pounds for each child.
"He has that kind of blood and one track-minded. He doesn't care what he wants to do. He just made up his mind to stick to it, no matter what the cost. Many years later, when referring to her father as an "impossible task" by everyone, her daughter Barbara said.
On March 4th, 1939, two volunteers from Winton, Czech Republic met in England, and the first train carrying Jewish children with ID numbers around their necks quietly set off from Prague. The next day, the Germans entered the Czech capital. After the visa was extended, Winton began to forge entry documents. From March to August, eight trains carried 669 Jewish children out of hell.
Lord Alf Dubs was only six years old when his mother put him on the train. The British Labor politician recalled: "I can still see Prague Station-children, parents and soldiers wearing Nazi crosses." . "When we arrived in Holland the next night, the adults cheered because we finally got rid of Nazi rule. I didn't know much at the time. 」
At that time, 83-year-old Lynette Laxova didn't understand why she made such a "poison oath" and said that she would eat spinach in the future, but her parents still had to put herself on the bus. Thomas Glaumann, then eight years old, firmly remembers what his mother said at the station: "Learn English well and everything will be fine. Today, his English is very good, but he has never met his mother or brother who should have gone to England by train 1.
The ninth train failed to pass the German Blitzkrieg. 1 939 September1At 4: 40 am, the German army invaded Poland like lightning, and the train scheduled to leave that day was stopped at the border and diverted directly to the gas chamber of Sobibor concentration camp. "On that day, 250 families waited on Liverpool Avenue, but the result was disappointing. If the train could leave a day earlier, the outcome would be completely different. This matter has been mentioned for several years, and Winton still regrets not being able to hurry up.
15000 Czechoslovakia children were killed in World War II, and "Winton children" basically never saw their parents again. When the motherland behind them turned into a hell on earth, these 669 "brave survivors" got off the Winton train and started a strange life in a foreign country.
Years later, the Czech President praised Winton for giving Czech children the "best gift": the chance to get life and freedom.
The children rescued by Winton include karel reisz, a famous film director, Lord Alf Dubs, a politician of the Labour Party, and Joe slazenger, a famous Canadian journalist who is going to put Winton's story on the screen.
In the hearts of some rescued children, the train with steam has become the most painful and fortunate memory.
However, for 50 years, Winton didn't mention it to anyone.
It was not until 1988 that Winton's wife, Greta, found a yellow scrapbook while cleaning up the attic. This book brought 79-year-old Winton into the BBC's Sunday night hit "This is life! In the studio, sit in the front row of the audience with others.
Esther Lanzeen, the host, told this history while leafing through scrapbooks, children's photos and basic information, fund-raising records, and letters from Britain that could not accept more refugees ... Until finally, the host read the name of a live audience from a list of rescued children, "Vera diamante," Lanzeen said to the white-haired old lady, "Mr. Winton sat down. 」
The world was silent for two seconds. With a smile that she didn't know what to do, Vera put out her arms and hugged Mr. Winton. "Thank you, thank you," she murmured with tears in her eyes. The host asked, "Are there any children saved by Mr. Winton?" All the audience stood up silently and stared at Mr. Winton except Mr. Winton in the first row. Some people quietly wiped their tears, but no one said a word.
"He gave me life," Lord Dubs recalled. "When someone saved your life, the feeling was so strong that I didn't know how to deal with it. 」
Winton, 78, stood up slowly, turned around and looked at these "children" who are now over half a century old, and sat down slowly without saying a word. He just put his index finger behind the lens, wiped his left eye, then his right eye, pinched his mouth tightly and forced his face to remain calm. "Compared with the war itself, everything before the war is nothing." Winton said, "I didn't mean to keep it secret ... I just didn't say it." 」
It is worth mentioning that half a century after losing their parents, the "Winton children" who were rescued that year found that their "reborn father" was still alive. Since then, many white-haired children have appeared in Winton.
Being knighted by the Queen of England in 2002, Winton said frankly, "I was a little surprised by what happened 65 years ago. What really makes me happy is that those "children"-of course, they are grandparents now-all called to congratulate me. 」
When Winton/Kloc-0 was 0/00 years old, the children came to see him along the route of that year and took a steam train. Winton waited at the station early, just like 70 years ago. Laxova finally met his "old father", but everyone crowded around Winton. She finally grabbed his hand and kissed it, but she never got a chance to take out the prepared gift: it was a small woodcut with a map of a train crossing Europe, from Czech to London and from east to west.
In a congratulatory letter to Winton 105, Czech President milos zeman wrote: "There are many reasons why your life is unusual. But you don't consider yourself a hero. You set an example of humanitarianism, altruism, personal courage and modesty. 」
Not long ago, the Czech Republic sent a military plane to take the old man back to Prague, accompanied by seven "Winton children" and won the highest honor "White Lion Medal" personally awarded by the President.
Winton's acceptance speech was not sensational at all: "Thanks to the British families who were willing to take them in and accept them, and the Czechs who tried their best to fight against the Germans at that time ... I won this award only with a little help. The old man with all white hair and all teeth lost said word for word that extreme restraint and reticence were the tattoos left by the war. But Asaf Auerbach, a Winton child present, noticed: "Even the President is secretly wiping his tears. 」
His story touched everyone, but this unsmiling stubborn old man attributed this overwhelming praise to himself for living too long. "(saving lives) may seem great today, but I really didn't think much when I did it. He didn't like being called "Schindler of Britain" and thought that he was not in danger at that time. The volunteers who escaped the eyes and ears of the Gestapo in the Czech Republic were the real heroes, but everyone else left.
"Some people are born great, some people pursue greatness, and some people can hardly be called great." Winton thought he was obviously the third. A Czech director once made three films based on Winton. When talking with Winton, he had to spend several months trying to convince Schindler that his nine months in the Czech Republic was the most important time in his life.
Winton, on the other hand, insists that you don't need to mention what you think is right, just finish one thing and do the next. After the war, he devoted himself to helping people with mental retardation and helped to establish many homes for the elderly. 1983, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the welfare of the elderly, the Queen of England awarded him the Imperial Medal of Honor (MBE).
Winton doesn't want to talk about the past again and again, and he rarely thinks about the future. He didn't want people to label himself as a train nearly 80 years ago, and he never thought of connecting those eight Winton trains into a bridge to fame and fortune. His daughter Barbara said that her father had no ambition or self-confidence, but he was particularly angry at injustice and was particularly single-minded in correcting a wrong thing.
When people applauded the past feats of Winton Train, the centenarian said word for word: "The world today is more dangerous than ever. As long as there are weapons of mass destruction, there is no security ... I thought we didn't learn the lessons we learned before, and we didn't learn anything. 」
He finally agreed to let his daughter Barbara write a biography for himself. Barbara wrote in the book that his father didn't want to be regarded as an unreachable hero. "If reading his story makes people feel that' that's a hero, I can never do it', that's not his wish. The title "If not impossible" comes from his motto: "If something is not impossible, then there must be a way to do it. 」
Winton has been a little forgetful recently, a little deaf and prone to fatigue. Most of the time, he is sitting in a wheelchair straight, his mouth is pinched into a line, and there is not much emotional expression in his eyes behind thick glasses. But when faced with a birthday cake with 105 candles, Jazz insisted on standing and said, "I think I'm just racing against time. I'm not sick at all ... to be exact, I'm just a little old, not old. 」