A Very Happy Birthday, Sir Nicolas!

On 19 May this year Sir Nicholas Winton will be 104. Those of us who still remain of the 669 Czech, mainly Jewish, children whom Nicholas Winton saved on the eve of the Second World War would like to wish him a Very Happy Birthday! Most of us did not know how our rescue had been achieved until Nicholas Winton‘s part in it became known in 1988. How fortunate that we have been able to get to know Nicky in person over the last 25 years and show him our gratitude and appreciation. Since the ‘Velvet Revolution’ in Czechoslovakia in 1989, Nicholas Winton’s story has become well known and acknowledged, especially in their schools. He has been invited to Prague many times, and has received Czech honours. In 2009 Czech Railways arranged a commemorative journey by trains assembled from pre-war engines and wagons to go from Prague to London, remembering the journeys made by the unaccompanied children in 1939. My husband Cedric persuaded me that we should join the ‘Winton Train‘ in August 2009. With all the media attention, taking the train from the one-time Wilson Station was very different from the day my sister Sonja and I left Prague, with our parents seeing us off, saying ‘It won‘t be for long.’ Like most of the other children, we were never to see them again. Our parents, as well as Nicholas Winton, had been far-seeing and caring enough to remove us from experiencing the discrimination and potential danger, even though no one at that time could imagine the horrors to come. I was invited by Czech television to be interviewed by Jan Kraus on the train, because I still speak Czech. After this was shown twice on Czech television, I was contacted by distant relatives who had survived the Holocaust, from my home town Hradec Kralove and from Litomerice. Last year I was asked to give talks to schools and adult groups in Hradec Kralove,talking about my life and the part played by Nicholas Winton. I was also invited to be interviewed by Radio Hradec Kralove about my experiences. In December 1942 the Jewish citizens of Hradec Kralove and those from outlying villages – a total of 1,200 persons – were rounded up and transported to Terezin, and from there to Auschwitz. Of these only 90 survived. Among those who perished were all the members of my family, including my cousin’s two small children. Had it not been for Nicholas Winton, my own name and that of my late sister would also have appeared on the memorial in the Hradec Kralove Jewish Cemetery, which lists all those from the town who did not return. They include my Jewish classmates and other children of my age whom I knew. A commemorative assembly was held in December 2012 in Hradec to mark the 70 years since the deportations. This took place in the building from which the Jewish people had been taken away in 1942. When my thoughts turn to the fate that my parents had to suffer I feel they could at least have had that small crumb of comfort that we, their daughters, were safe, thanks to the actions of Nicholas Winton at that critical time. Thank you, dear Nicky, from a very grateful survivor! Hana Kleiner