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1 Sir Nicholas Winton SLEZSKÁ UNIVERZITA V OPAVĚ Filozoficko-přírodovědecká fakulta v Opavě BAKALÁŘSKÁ PRÁCE Opava 2021 Monika Hilzensauer SLEZSKÁ UNIVERZITA V OPAVĚ Filozoficko-přírodovědecká fakulta Monika Hilzensauer Obor: Angličtina pro školskou praxi Media Reception of Nicholas Winton’s Legacy in Great Britain and the Czech Republic Bakalářská práce Opava 2021 Vedoucí bakalářské práce: Mgr. Marie Crhová, Ph.D., MA Abstract This bachelor thesis deals with the media image of Nicholas Winton’s rescue operation in which he managed to save hundreds of Czechoslovak children. Predominantly from Jewish families. The introductory part describes the life of Nicholas Winton and events before the outbreak of World War II. The thesis concentrates on the how the story was represented in the media and reflects responses not only in Great Britain but also in the Czech Republic. The Slovak director Matěj Mináč, with whom an interview was conducted especially for this thesis, is a noteworthy source of information. The thesis monitors documentary and features films in Czech and British cinematography trying to find out which of those countries could have a bigger influence on “Nicolas Winton’s legacy’s presentation.“ Key words: Sir Nicholas Winton, media, rescue operation, Great Britain, Czech Republic Abstrakt Bakalářská práce pojednává o mediálním obrazu záchranné akce Nicholase Wintona, při které se podařilo zachránit stovky československých dětí, převážně z židovských rodin. Úvodní část popisuje život Nicholase Wintonova a události před vypuknutím druhé světové války. Dále se práce soustřeďuje, jakým způsobem byl příběh mediálně prezentován a reflektuje ohlasy nejen ve Velké Británii, ale také v České republice. Neobvyklým zdrojem informací je rozhovor, poskytnut výhradně pro tuto práci, se slovenským režisérem Matějem Mináčem. Práce mapuje dokumentární a hranou tvorbu v české a britské kinematografii ve snaze srovnat, která z těchto zemí mohla mít větší vliv na prezentaci odkazu Nicholase Wintona. Klíčová slova: Sir Nicholas Winton, média, záchranná akce, Velká Británie, Česká republika Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Marie Crhová, Ph.D., MA for her guidence, feedback, and comments throughout the whole process of writing this thesis. Contents Introduction …………………………………….………………………………………1 1 Sir Nicholas Winton …………………….……………………………………………2 1.1 The British Oskar Schindler - Nicholas Winton …………….………………………2 1.2 His Predecessors and Fellow Workers……….………….…………………………...5 1.3 Dark Clouds over Europe …………...……….………………………………………7 1.4 An Act of Kindness ………………………..…………………………………………9 1.5. Winton’s honours …………..……………….……………………………………..12 2 United Kingdom ………………...…………………………………………………..15 2.1 That’s Life! ………………...………………………………….……………………15 2.2 Years of Fame ………...………………………………………………………… 17 2.3 Winton’ charity work ……...……………………………………………………….19 3 Czech Republic ………………..…………………….………………………………21 3.1 Becoming Czech Hero ……...…………………………………………………… 21 3.2 Matěj Mináč ……………..…………………………………………………………22 3.3 Winton’s Czech Family …….…………………….………………………………...24 4 Comparisons …………………...……………………………………………………27 Conclusion ………………………………………………….…………………………29 Bibliography ……………………………………….………………………………….31 Picture Appendix ...........................................................................................................33 1 Introduction “If something is not impossible, then there must be a way to do it,” Sir Nicholas Winton The quoted statement was the favourite motto of Sir Nicholas Winton, the leader of the rescue operation of saving Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in 1939. The largely still unknown story, shocking to many people, especially those who had no idea how they had come to live in Great Britain. Those “children”, who, at the time of revealing the story, had grown up and started their own families, are still looking for the answers. Luckily the main piece of this puzzle - Nicholas Winton was still alive, in a very good condition and he was able to share this story with a few people and some of them decided to spread this good deed to the rest of the world. The task of this thesis is to describe and contrast the reception of Nicholas Winton’s legacy in Great Britain and the Czech Republic through the lens of the media. I analyse documentary films and feature films about Sir Nicholas Winton in the two countries. This thesis consists of four main chapters. The first chapter is dedicated to Nicholas Winton’s life, the main inspiration for me is the book of Winton’s daughter Barbara. I also describe historic events before the outbreak of World War II with the help of a book called Europe: A History written by Norman Davies, a famous British historian. The second chapter deals with the discovery of the story and focuses on TV show called That’s Life! and documentary movies in Great Britain. In the third chapter I take a closer look at Czech documentaries, and features movies. I was very lucky to get in touch with Matěj Mináč, who I have interviewed. In this chat he revealed why he did choose the Nicholas Winton’s story. Finally, I present a result of my research in which I compare the results from the media environment - press and cinematography in Great Britain and the Czech Republic. Remarkable component of the thesis is also an appendix. This appendix includes a selection of photos from the family album, photos of Nicholas Winton with “his children”, and pictures of Winton’s memorials in Prague, London, Maidenhead and Washington. Those pictures show some important moments in Winton’s life and I also want to show some memorials dedicated to him. 2 1 Sir Nicholas Winton This chapter aims to clarify basic information about Sir Nicholas Winton and also describe the situation before the World War II in Czechoslovakia. I will try to approximate thoughts of Sir Nicholas Winton before and during the rescue operation. 1.1. The British Oskar Schindler - Nicholas Winton How do many people know the story about Oskar Schindler? Probably most of us at least heard about him or saw the movie Schindler’s list filmed by Steven Spielberg. However do you know the “British Schindler”? There is one fascinating a story about a young British banker who is an example of kindness and his willingness to help saved hundreds of Czechoslovak children. His name is Nicholas Winton and in 1939 he, together with some other people, organised trains from Prague to London. They were not just ordinary trains. For some people those trains meant a hope, because only children were aloud to travel in those trains. In this chapter I will have a look at important facts about Sir Nicholas Winton. Actually his real name was Nicholas George Wertheim and was born on 19 May 1909 in Hampstead, London to Jewish parents as the middle-born of their three children. His parents were German Jews who had emigrated to Britain in 19th century.1 During the First World War, the anti-German moods were also felt in Great Britain, so the whole family changed their surname to a more anglicised one - Winton. In his daughter’s book, Nicholas Winton explained the circumstances surrounding the change of their family name: “We became Winton when Chamberlain came back and made his speech and said ‘peace in our time’.This triggered us at last to change our name. We had had a family conference when problems with Germany were brewing, that is my mother, brother Robert, sister Lottie and myself. We discussed our family going through a second world war with a German-Jewish name, whereas we were in fact British and 1 Stephen Bates, “Sir Nicholas Winton Obituary,“ The Guardian, July 1, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/01/sir-nicholas-winton 3 brought up as Christians. Up to then it had always been decided that it seemed an almost cowardly to do to change one’s name.”2 The Winton’s were not a practicing Jewish family, however they socialised with the Jewish community and had a lot of Jewish friends. With the political situation, when on one hand Adolf Hitler started to chase Jews and on the other hand it was not popular to be German after World War I, the Winton family decided to convert and become Christians. He believed in God until his late twenties but after hearing of Nazi cruelty, the seeds of doubt were sown. At the beginning of the World War II he saw how British and also German priests blessed their troops before going into battle, then he realised that the same God cannot be on both sides and that was the last straw in the complete loss of faith and became an agnostic. When his daughter Barbara asked him what he would like the biography to say about him, he said: “I think it should show my history with religion - from Jewish to Christian to agnostic, and the fact that I came to believe through my life what is important is that we live by the common ethics of all religions - kindness, decency, love, respect and honour for others - and not worry about the aspects within religion that divide us.”3 His family was a tight-knit and he was very close his mother. When Nicholas, also known as Nicky, was fourteen, he asked his parents to send him to Stowe, a new public school that had just opened in 1923. When he finished the school, he moved to Germany, in Hamburg worked at Behrens Bank and followed by Wasserman Bank in Berlin, for couple of years to practice his financial skills, get some experience in the banking sector and also enjoy a youthful life. In 1931 Nicholas Winton moved to France, where he worked for the Banque Nationale de Crédit in Paris and afterwards, he moved back to London. When he came back to London, he became a broker at The London Stock Exchange and he actually stayed in financial area and business his whole professional career. Outside of work Nicholas Winton lived an ordinary life, enjoyed time with his family and friends until the day when he got a phone call from his friend Martin Blake and instead of going on holiday to Switzerland, he flew to Prague.
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