Up until the beginning of September, not many people had heard of 100 year old Sir Nicholas Winton.
However one epic railtour which coincided with the 70th anniversary of World War Two soon changed all that.
I was lucky enough to be London Liverpool Street station on September 4 as the final leg of an 800 trip from which commemorated his actions just prior to the start of the war.
At the time Sir Nicholas was a 29 year old stockbroker whose action was to organise a series of trains from Czechoslovakia, which was threatened by Nazi occupation, to London to save as many Jewish children as possible.
In all eight trains carried 669 children to safety between April and August 1939, an incredible achievement. Running from Prague the trains ran south to Nuremberg before running North West to Cologne and onto the Hook of Holland. From there the children boarded ferries to the Suffolk port of Harwich from where they were taken onto London.
Not only did Sir Nicholas organise these trains he also found suitable families for each child as well as 250 more families for children of a ninth train which was due to leave on September 1 1939 but never did due to the outbreak of war.
To be in the presence, even in a media scrum, of a man who was personally responsible for the saving of so many lives was an awe inspiring moment and he deserves every bit of credit and attention he gets.
Talking to some of those from the original trains who retraced their steps across Europe this summer, it was clear the debt of gratitude they felt towards him which was lovely to see. One said he felt that Sir Nicholas was like a father to him.
Everyone admitted that without him they would not be here today. Neither would the estimated 5000 descendents of the 669 who made the trip 70 years ago.
Never seemingly one to blow his own trumpet, Sir Nicholas didn’t speak publicly during the ceremony which welcomed the train and its passengers after its arrival in London but he didn’t have to.
The smiling faces of those who had crossed Europe to recreate their life saving journeys said everything that needed to be said.
This year is the 70th anniversary of the start of World War Two and what better way to mark this by celebrating one of the true heroes of that time. War has its villains but it also has its heroes and Sir Nicholas could be seen as a definition of the word hero.
I am very honoured and glad to have been present for the arrival of the 2009 train and the subsequent greetings between the survivors and their life savour.
Despite being one of the media jostling to get photos and interviews with those connected to the train, I was still able to appreciate the work of this great man and what it means to so many people, who now live all around the world.
Having also visited Auschwitz earlier this year and meeting someone who survived six years in the camp I now have a greater understanding or what World War Two meant on a personal level.
It is easy to read about it or watch television programmes but you can’t get a full understanding of what war means to people without meeting people like Sir Nicholas or visiting locations such as Auschwitz.
Auschwitz is an immensely powerful place and it is difficult not to shed a tear when you consider what happened to so many people in that dreadful camp.
But thanks to people like Sir Nicholas Winton, there are also happy stories from World War Two where people were saved and to people like that we should all have the upmost respect.
However one epic railtour which coincided with the 70th anniversary of World War Two soon changed all that.
I was lucky enough to be London Liverpool Street station on September 4 as the final leg of an 800 trip from which commemorated his actions just prior to the start of the war.
At the time Sir Nicholas was a 29 year old stockbroker whose action was to organise a series of trains from Czechoslovakia, which was threatened by Nazi occupation, to London to save as many Jewish children as possible.
In all eight trains carried 669 children to safety between April and August 1939, an incredible achievement. Running from Prague the trains ran south to Nuremberg before running North West to Cologne and onto the Hook of Holland. From there the children boarded ferries to the Suffolk port of Harwich from where they were taken onto London.
Not only did Sir Nicholas organise these trains he also found suitable families for each child as well as 250 more families for children of a ninth train which was due to leave on September 1 1939 but never did due to the outbreak of war.
To be in the presence, even in a media scrum, of a man who was personally responsible for the saving of so many lives was an awe inspiring moment and he deserves every bit of credit and attention he gets.
Talking to some of those from the original trains who retraced their steps across Europe this summer, it was clear the debt of gratitude they felt towards him which was lovely to see. One said he felt that Sir Nicholas was like a father to him.
Everyone admitted that without him they would not be here today. Neither would the estimated 5000 descendents of the 669 who made the trip 70 years ago.
Never seemingly one to blow his own trumpet, Sir Nicholas didn’t speak publicly during the ceremony which welcomed the train and its passengers after its arrival in London but he didn’t have to.
The smiling faces of those who had crossed Europe to recreate their life saving journeys said everything that needed to be said.
This year is the 70th anniversary of the start of World War Two and what better way to mark this by celebrating one of the true heroes of that time. War has its villains but it also has its heroes and Sir Nicholas could be seen as a definition of the word hero.
I am very honoured and glad to have been present for the arrival of the 2009 train and the subsequent greetings between the survivors and their life savour.
Despite being one of the media jostling to get photos and interviews with those connected to the train, I was still able to appreciate the work of this great man and what it means to so many people, who now live all around the world.
Having also visited Auschwitz earlier this year and meeting someone who survived six years in the camp I now have a greater understanding or what World War Two meant on a personal level.
It is easy to read about it or watch television programmes but you can’t get a full understanding of what war means to people without meeting people like Sir Nicholas or visiting locations such as Auschwitz.
Auschwitz is an immensely powerful place and it is difficult not to shed a tear when you consider what happened to so many people in that dreadful camp.
But thanks to people like Sir Nicholas Winton, there are also happy stories from World War Two where people were saved and to people like that we should all have the upmost respect.
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