Recognizing the Remarkable Example of Sir Nicholas Winton

Floor Speech

RECOGNIZING THE REMARKABLE EXAMPLE OF SIR NICHOLAS WINTON -- (House of Representatives - September 17, 2007)

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Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 583, recognizing the remarkable example of Sir Nicholas Winton, who organized the rescue of 669 Jewish Czechoslovakian children from Nazi death camps prior to the outbreak of World War II. I would like to thank my colleague, Congressman RON KLEIN, for introducing this important legislation, as well as the lead Republican cosponsor, Congressman LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART.

Mr. Speaker, today we recognize one of the great unsung heroes of World War II; a man who stood up against extraordinary evil to defend innocent children. Sir Nicholas Winton is an individual of profound moral decency and personal courage, who, in the midst of the immense darkness of World War II, offered hope that the perpetrators of horrendous atrocities would not prevail.

In 1938, Nicholas Winton, a 29-year-old clerk at the London Stock Exchange, visited Prague and was immediately concerned by the refugee situation. His frequent business trips to Germany had given him first-hand knowledge of the virulent anti-Semitism codified by the 1935 Nuremberg Race laws, manifesting itself in ever-increasing attacks, harassment, and arrest of Jewish people in Germany. The 1938 Munich Agreement, which gave Hitler control over the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia and was hailed by British Prime Minister as a ``peace for our time,'' did not ease Winton's fears, and he came to recognize that Germany could not be appeased.

When Winton visited Prague, he found refugee camps, full of freezing Jewish families who had fled the Sudetenland. In particular, he was alarmed that nothing was being done to help the many innocent children, trapped in the gathering storm of war. Before returning to London, he set up a system of Kindertransport, where the names of children where collected and paired with foster homes in Britain and Sweden. When families could not pay to transport their children beyond the reaches of the Nazis, Winton raised money to fund transportation and other fees.

On March 14, 1939, only a day before the Nazi army occupied all of Czechoslovakia, the first 20 children left Prague. Over the next six months, a total of 669 children were sent via 8 trains to London, where families waited to shelter them. These children were spared the horror of the concentration camps by the courageous efforts of one man. Vera Gissing, one of the many children who, thanks to Winton's work, survived the war, later

wrote, ``He rescued the greater part of the Jewish children of my generation in Czechoslovakia. Very few of us met our parents again: they perished in concentration camps. Had we not been spirited away, we would have been murdered alongside them.''

A 9th train was scheduled to leave on September 3, 1939, with 250 children onboard. Tragically, Great Britain entered the war that very day, and the train was prevented from leaving Prague, and it later disappeared. None of the children on board was ever heard from again, and none survived the war. In all, 15,000 Czech children were killed in the Holocaust.

Nicholas Winton is a reluctant hero, who never bragged about his courageous work. He never sought recognition for his actions, and we only learned about his efforts by coincidence. His good deeds did not end with the war's conclusion, and he was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire title in 1983 for his charitable work with the elderly. He was further recognized by the City of Prague and the nation of Czechoslovakia.

Sir Nicholas Winton epitomizes the greatness of the human spirit. He stood against the forces of darkness and helped the powerless during one of history's blackest hours, and then never sought recognition for his extraordinary accomplishments. Six hundred and sixty-nine children were saved from suffering the horrific fate that befell so many of their friends and family members due to his daring, creativity, and compassion. I am grateful for the opportunity to pay tribute to this extraordinary man, and I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

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