The British Schindler

He truly made the world better through his efforts. I clicked on emma’s link about the Liverpool Street Station sculpture, which led to clicking on the Wikipedia page about him. Wow - he lived to age 106! It also mentioned the following:

“Sir Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn will play Winton, at different stages in life, in a new movie titled One Life. Directed by Aisling Walsh, One Life will be filmed in the United Kingdom and Czech Republic from April 2021”

You are right, Emma. Tears all around. Thank you for posting that.

Steven saw something on the tube about him a few years ago That guy was amazing. A freaking saint. Got me all choked up. By the way, how are you doing?

And if in Prague I suggest the Pinkas Synagogue and anywhere in Europe look for the Stolperstein

I had the honor of meeting him once. It’s humbling to think of what he did and how many lives he saved.

Emma, thank you so much for posting that link to such a heartwarmingly beautiful story.

Wow. Thanks for the link, Emma.

Thanks Steven for posting. The story of Sir Nicholas Winton came to life for us in 2019. I recall hearing the story on our Jewish Walking Tour in Prague. Prior to Prague we did a Jewish Tour of Budapest. Our guide, Timea Tarjani took us to the Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Park. One of the memoriable highlights was the stained glass memorial in honor of Winton. A beautiful tribute. Places of Interest & Memorials: www.nicholaswinton.com

Thank goodness Nicholas Winton's wife found his record book and he consented to share his humanitarian efforts. In addition, the Sir Nicholas Winton Memorial Trust was set up in 2018. His family believed that the documents and artifacts had historic value and needed to be preserved intact for future generations.

There are several Schindler like people in the history of WW2. These include a Japanese diplomat who went against his country's orders and gave out travel papers to hundreds of Jews seeking to get out of Europe before a Nazi take over. I believe the Israelis have named a street after him.

There is also a German businessman in Nanking who protected about 20,000 Chinese workers and their families against the Japanese Army by sheltering them in a German owned industrial plant. He somehow managed to keep the Japanese soldiers out of the plant by letting them know that the 'Fuhrer' would be very upset if they invaded a German plant. If you have heard of the 'Rape of Nanking' you know know how brutal that was. 200,000 dead.

Heroes pop up, and are very often ordinary people who rise to the occasion and do amazing things in times of trial.

In addition to the two other heroes noted above, i would like to highlight Swiss Diplomat Carl Lutz. It’s been said that Lutz saved over 62,000 Jews. We visited the poignant Bronze Memorial honoring him in Budapest. It depicts an angel descending to help a fallen victim.

“Whoever saves a life is considered as if he has
saved an entire world.” Many notable “Schindler’s.”

The Glass House, Vadasz utca 29 (District V) in Budapest, was the WW II safe house maintained by Carl Lutz. Donation requested (as of 2018). As I recall there's a video you can watch, plus some printed material in English. The site was open daily 1 PM to 4 PM, again as of 2018.

For the longest time the Glass House was just an address. Then an address and a plaque. Now a bit more. http://www.uveghaz.org/?categoryId=36511 Sometimes you dont need much. Just knowledge of the history, and for me at least, just the opportunity to stand in the photo https://www.timesofisrael.com/an-israeli-moshav-fills-in-the-blanks-on-a-wwii-rescue/ and contemplate the insanity of humanity.

And for those touched by the subject. Since Budapest came up (do you mind Steven?) Here are some sources that can be replicated in many European cities

http://www.yellowstarhouses.org/ pay note to the protected houses, similar to the Glass House and many attributable to Lutz.

http://www.yellowstarhouses.org/ Learn about this project and look for them on your walks
https://righteous.yadvashem.org/?/search.html?language=en a few were named here, but Yad Vashem recognizes 869 in Hungary. So, there were a lot of good people amongst the evil.

Anyone interested in this subject while visiting Budapest, let me know. Glad to assist.

I first became aware of Sir Nicholas Winton and the Kindertransport during my 2nd visit to Prague when I took the "World War Two Prague" walking tour with Jason at Living Prague Tours. (I was the only person signed up for the tour that day; we went anyway! He's a really good guy and informative tour guide.)

Jason showed me another memorial at the Prague main train station: a glass memorial set in a train door with adult hands pressed against one side and the hands of Kinder pressed against the other as they said (for many) their last goodbyes. It was restored, after being vandalized in 2019.

Recently, I've been reading books about the Kindertransport, its supporters and survivors, including this first recommendation from a forum member that got me started:

The Last Train to London, Author Meg Waite Clayton
"centering on the Kindertransports that carried thousands of children out of Nazi-occupied Europe—and one brave woman [Geertruida Wijsmuller, known as "Tante Truus"] who helped them escape to safety."

Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, Author Deborah Oppenheimer
The author weaves together the background of the Kindertransport and stories of the Kinder through threads as told by survivors.

I'm just beginning to read and enjoy:
The Children of Willesden Lane: Beyond the Kindertransport : A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival, Author Mona Golabek
"Based on the true story of her mother, Mona Golabek describes the inspirational story of [pianist] Lisa Jura Golabek's escape from Nazi-controlled Austria to England on the famed Kindertransport."

Another great human to remember: Janusz Korczak.

Add Raoul Wallenberg to that list.
Also, it is well to remember that there were unsung heroes who performed small, but risky humanitarian deeds to save people despite the Nazi terror engulfing their lives.

As of 1 January 2020, Yad Vashem has recognized 27,712 Righteous Among the Nations from 51 countries.

The "official" list is here. Very interesting to read: https://righteous.yadvashem.org/?/search.html?language=en

On the flip side of things - has anybody read The Nazi's Granddaughter: How I Discovered My Grandfather was a War Criminal by Sylvia Foti? A very personal and pained account of the author's family research.