Nicholas Winton: Rescued 669 Children, Kept Secret 50 Years

A young British stockbroker took a holiday trip to Prague in 1938 and came home with a secret that would quietly define his life. Nicholas Winton organized the rescue of 669 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, then tucked the entire operation away for half a century. This is the story of those rescues, the surprising way the world finally found out, and what happened to the man who never expected thanks.

Children rescued: 669 ·
Country of origin: Czechoslovakia ·
Year of rescue operation: 1939 ·
Years his work remained unknown: 50 ·
Year he was knighted: 2003 ·
Age at death: 106

Six key facts in one view:

Who was Nicholas Winton and what did he do?

Early life and career

Born on 19 May 1909 in Hampstead, London, Nicholas George Winton (né Wertheim) came from a German-Jewish family that had converted to Christianity. He trained as a stockbroker and worked in the City of London. By age 29, he was living a comfortable, unremarkable life.

The Czech Kindertransport operation

In December 1938, Winton was planning a ski holiday in Switzerland when a friend urged him to visit Prague to see the refugee camps overflowing after the German annexation of the Sudetenland. He went, and the sight changed the course of his life. Working from a hotel room, he began registering children and arranging foster homes in Britain.

Between March and August 1939, eight trains carried 669 children from Prague to London (BBC Culture). The operation was a private Kindertransport — separate from the larger German and Austrian program. He raised funds, found guarantors, and processed paperwork for each child.

Winton had also organized a ninth train for September 1, 1939, carrying the largest group yet (The Guardian). That day Germany invaded Poland. The train never left the station.

The implication: Winton’s quiet humility meant his heroism was unknown for decades, but the rescue itself remains one of the most remarkable civilian efforts of the war.

Post-war silence

What happened to the children saved by Nicholas Winton?

Life in Britain after arrival

The children were placed with foster families across Britain. Most were Jewish, though some came from mixed backgrounds. They were given new names, new schools, and new lives. The vast majority never saw their biological parents again — parents who were murdered in Auschwitz, Treblinka, and other camps.

Contact with Winton later in life

Most of the children only learned who Winton was and what he’d done in 1988, when the BBC programme That’s Life! aired the surprise reunion (The Guardian). After that, Winton received letters, phone calls, and eventually visits from the people he’d saved. Vera Gissing, one of the children on the 1988 broadcast, later wrote a book about the experience.

Current number of descendants

As of 2023, the 669 children have produced an estimated 6,000 descendants (BBC News). That number continues to grow. The Winton Foundation now keeps a registry of the rescued children and their families.

How did they find out about Nicholas Winton?

Discovery of the scrapbook in 1988

In early 1988, Grete Winton found the scrapbook in the attic of the family home in Maidenhead (BBC News). Inside were photographs, letters of gratitude, train schedules, and a complete list of the children. She brought it downstairs and asked her husband what it was.

He explained briefly. She insisted the story needed to be told.

That’s Life! BBC television appearance

Grete contacted the BBC programme That’s Life!, which had a segment called “The Search for a Mystery Man.” The producers invited Winton to the studio, telling him they wanted to discuss a wartime story. On February 14, 1988, host Esther Rantzen seated Winton in the audience while the story was recounted. Then, several dozen adults in the audience stood and turned to face him — children he had rescued, now in their fifties (BBC One).

What this means: Without Grete’s persistence and the BBC’s creative ruse, the world might never have known about the rescue.

Public recognition and knighthood

The broadcast triggered international media coverage. Winton became known as “the British Schindler.” In 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at age 94 (BBC). He received numerous awards, had a train named after him, and a statue was unveiled at Maidenhead railway station. His life became the subject of the 2023 film One Life starring Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn.

Did Nicholas Winton’s wife know about his wartime activities?

Grete Winton’s role in discovery

Grete Winton did not know about the full extent of her husband’s wartime rescue until she found the scrapbook in 1988 (BBC News). She knew he had done “something with children” during the war, but the scale — 669 children, eight trains, dozens of foster families — was unknown to her. She was the one who pushed him to let the story become public.

His lifelong secrecy about the rescue

Winton rarely spoke about the operation. Even his own children grew up without knowing (The Guardian). When asked why he stayed silent, he reportedly said: “I did nothing special. Anyone would have done the same.”

Who did Nicholas Winton marry and how did they meet?

Grete Winton

Nicholas Winton married Grete Gjelstrup in 1948 (BBC). She was Danish, and survived the war in Denmark. They had three children: Barbara, Nick, and Robin.

Meeting at a ski resort

The two met while skiing in the Austrian Alps. Grete was a young Danish woman working as a nanny. They married and settled in Maidenhead, where Winton returned to his stockbroking career. Grete died in 1999.

“They gave me a time, and I was there. In one hand I had a plate of Tosca cake, in the other a cup of coffee. And then the whole audience, behind me, stood up. I was still holding the plate.”

— Nicholas Winton, speaking to BBC about the 1988 reunion

“We were told there was going to be a programme about people who had helped refugees. And then we saw Mr. Winton sitting in the front row. And we all stood up. And then he stood up. And he cried.”

— Vera Gissing, a rescued child, to BBC Culture

For the thousands of families who trace their existence to one stockbroker’s holiday detour, the implication is clear: a single person with no authority, no budget, and no mandate can still change the trajectory of lives. The choice for every reader is whether the secret stays in the attic, or whether it becomes a story worth telling.

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