
It’s impossible not to cry watching clips of Nicholas Winton being reunited with some of the kids he saved during the Holocaust
This week saw the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27), and every year during this sombre week, clips from an old edition of the BBC’s That’s Life! hosted by Esther Ranzen go viral online.
That’s because the videos tell the story of British businessman, Sir Nicholas Winton, who, during World War II, helped to rescue 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia, bringing them to Britain via the Kindertransport. His actions have led to him being called “the British Schindler”.
I watch this video every Holocaust Remembrance Day. And I cry every time, because it revives my hope in humanity!
This is Nicholas Winton, who rescued 669 (mostly Jewish) children from Czechoslovakia during the Holocaust & brought them to Britain in the Kindertransport. pic.twitter.com/ar78vNiK2b
— Arsen Ostrovsky ️ (@Ostrov_A) January 27, 2025
For a long time after the war, Sir Nicholas’ story – since made into a movie called One Life starring Anthony Hopkins – went largely unacknowledged, mostly by his own accord as he never spoke about his heroism.
But in 1988, his wife discovered his old notebooks and records of his rescue of the children, and it started a chain of events that led to him appearing (twice) on Ranzen’s BBC show, That’s Life!
Sir Nicholas didn’t realise it at the time, but the show had arranged for a lot of the now grown surviving children to be in the audience, sitting among him. And his reaction when he realises who they are is one of the most moving things you’ll ever see.
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, I’d like to share this clip of Sir Nicholas Winton getting to meet the grown-up children he rescued from the Nazis four decades earlier.
Many of you have probably seen this before. But I feel it’s worth reminding ourselves that one person can make a… pic.twitter.com/chwMVpkiay
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) January 27, 2025
You can watch a longer version of it on the BBC or embedded below.
Once again, people can’t help but be moved by the extraordinary scenes.
1.
It moved me to tears, when I watched it on TV, that Sunday night in 1988! It still does…
— Paul Clark (@PaulClark_UTV) January 27, 2025
2.
Nicholas Winton will always be my number one hero, saving the lives of so many including my great aunt Trudy who was married my grandmothers brother ❤️
— #OHROB. (bottom 0.1%) (@robspitzy) January 27, 2025
3.
Never fails to move, no matter how many times I view this.
— Dr Peter Caddick-Adams #StandwithUkraine (@militaryhistori) January 29, 2025
4.
It doesn’t matter how many times I watch it, I cry every single time
— RACHELE (@RayeCharles) January 29, 2025
5.
I will never NOT tear up watching this video.
And how many children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren of these “kids” have been born as a result of Mr. Winton’s work? Thousands of people are here because of one man.
— Heidi P (@AZHeidiP) January 27, 2025
6.
They made an excellent movie about this with Anthony Hopkins. The wildest part of the story is that he did this one thing, then went on to live a completely ordinary and fulfilling life, and never really told anyone about it, staying humble until the end. https://t.co/74Yonevi0t
— jonathanwthomas (@jonathanwthomas) January 27, 2025
7.
My grandmother, Annemarie Klauber was one of those saved by the kindertransport.
Below is the last letter her mother ever sent her, before she was deported and murdered. This letter expressed desperation, hopelessness and her longing to see her child again. https://t.co/5D2wN4Fvc9 pic.twitter.com/5zsHFf7Ult
— Ariella (tortured poet version) ️ (@ariellakimmel) January 27, 2025
8.
Winton assisted in the rescue of 669 children from Czechoslovakia. He was called the “British Schindler” when his rescue work was finally recognized after several decades. He was knighted in 2003 and he lived to the remarkable age of 106. https://t.co/4yUpDvrjBq
— Nick Williams (@NickWilliams33) January 27, 2025
Source: Twitter/X/Ostrov_A and @Gerashchenko_en