Directions: Read the following story on Sir Nicholas Winton and watch the clip of him being honored. Then write a five sentence objective (no personal opinions) summary of what you read and saw on your activator sheet.

Nicholas Winton was born on the May 19, 1909, in London into a Jewish family. In 1938, Winton had decided to vacation in the Alps. However, after his friend phoned him and described the dangerous situation in Czechoslovakia for Jews and asked for help, Winton changed his plans. Although Winton had other responsibilities, he immediately went to Prague with only one goal – to help the endangered people. In Prague, Winton created an office and contacted countries to secure asylum (rescue) for as many at risk Czechoslovak citizens as possible.

The only positive response came from Great Britain. All other countries had closed their borders. However, British officials were given strict conditions concerning the transport of Jewish citizens to Great Britain. British borders would only allow children, and 50 Pounds (dollars) per child had to be paid. Winton’s office, located in a Prague house, began to fill with parents who wanted to save their children from the Nazi danger. A scrapbook with photos of all the registered children were made. These photographs were later printed in British newspapers for British families wanting to adopt Czechoslovak children. Time was against the Winton team, and everything had to be done very quickly. When all the children were registered and British families had chosen the children they would provide take in, Nicholas Winton faced the final and most difficult task – to ensure all passengers visas and safe transport.

Winton´s team realized the situation was desperate, so they decided to falsify the visas, which increased the danger. In spite of all this, eight trains successfully managed to get to Great Britain via Germany and France where the children came to safety and were given a new home. Nicholas Winton saved 669 Czechoslovak children.

Winton then returned to England, where he devoted himself to real estate work. He kept his noble deed a secret for many decades. Had it not been for his wife Greta, who accidentally found the scrapbook with photos of the rescued children in the attic of their house, we would probably have never found out about the unbelievable things Nicholas Winton managed to achieve.

In 1998, president Václav Havel invited Winton for a private visit to Prague and awarded him with the order of T.G. Masaryk. In his home country, Winton was knighted. He now goes by the title Sir Nicholas Winton. Sir Nicholas Winton is 105 years of age, and he continues to believe that what he did for the Czechoslovak children was commonplace.

In 1988, Winton was in the audience of a British talk show. He thought he was there to find a safe home for his scrapbook, but instead, received a surprise.