A Real Mensch

A group of elderly Holocaust survivors marked the 70th anniversary of their rescue from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia this week by retracing their path to safety and personally thanking their rescuer.

Some two dozen survivors, who were just kids when stockbroker Nicholas Winton orchestrated their escape, arrived at a London railway station aboard a vintage train Friday. They, along with their families, started their three-day commemorative journey in Prague. Winton, who is now 100 years old, greeted them in a wheelchair.

"For me he is like a father," Joseph Ginat told the Associated Press. "He gave us life."

In all, 669 children were saved through Winton’s “kindertransports.” He was working at the London Stock Exchange when a visit to former Czechoslovakia in 1938 convinced him that the country was on the verge of German invasion. The son of German Jews, Winton rightly predicted Jewish residents would soon be sent to concentration camps and took action to rescue the children from their fate.

Winton fundraised to make the evacuation possible, including the 50 pounds per child required by the British government. The kids were raised in foster homes in England and Sweden -- most would never see their parents again, many of whom died in concentration camps. It has been estimated, according to the AP, that some 5,000 people now owe their lives to Winton.

Now that’s what I call a mensch.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.