FREE IF ITS NOT IMPOSSIBLE...: THE LIFE OF SIR NICHOLAS WINTON PDF

Barbara Winton | 288 pages | 29 May 2014 | Troubador Publishing | 9781783065202 | English | Leicester, United Kingdom If It's Not Impossible … The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton – review | Books |

Barbara Winton. There are around people in the world today who owe their lives to Nicholas Winton. They are the descendants of a group of refugee children rescued by him from the Nazi threat in Some of them know of his existence and the part he played in their history, many others do not. It was a short event in his life but a critical one for those If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton lives were saved. For him that intervention was over in a flash and other adventures supplanted it. Only much later did this episode re-emerge in his life and ever since has brought him visitors from all over the world anxious to learn his story. This book lays out that story in detail, exploring the motivation and early experiences that led to him acting to save young lives, while others looked the other way. His motto "If something is not impossible, then there must be a way to do it" led him to follow his own convictions and undertake an operation others had dismissed as unnecessary or too difficult. His life thereafter was full of exploits stimulated by similar motivation which, though not so consequential, remain testimony to his character. But what was his motivation? How had his life and background led to him being ready, willing and able to conduct a successful rescue operation of children from at the age of 29? His daughter has painstakingly sifted through her father's papers and talked to family and friends to construct a detailed account of his whole life. It explores the influences on his character as well as the historical events he was caught up in. Taken from his historical letters and writings, Winton's own words are introduced If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton convey the atmosphere of many of his diverse experiences. If It's Not Impossible The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton by Barbara Winton

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — If It's Not Impossible If It's Not Impossible There are around people in the world today who owe their lives to Nicholas Winton. They are the descendants of a group of refugee children rescued by him from the Nazi threat in Some of them know of his existence and the part he played in their history, many others do not. It was a short event in his life but a critical one for those whose lives were saved. For There are around people in the world today who owe their lives to Nicholas Winton. For him that intervention was over in a flash and other adventures supplanted it. Only much later did this episode re-emerge in his life and ever since has brought him visitors from all over the world anxious to learn his story. This book lays out that story in detail, exploring the motivation and early experiences that led to him acting to save young lives, while others looked the other way. His motto "If something is not impossible, then there must be a way to do it" led him to follow his own convictions and undertake an operation others had dismissed as unnecessary or too difficult. His life thereafter was full of exploits stimulated by similar motivation which, though not so consequential, remain testimony to his If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton. But what was his motivation? How had his life and background led to him being ready, willing and able to conduct a successful rescue operation of children from Czechoslovakia at the age of 29? His daughter has painstakingly sifted through her father's papers and talked to family and friends to construct a detailed account of his whole life. It explores the influences on his character as well as the historical events he was caught up in. Taken from his historical letters and writings, Winton's own words are introduced to convey the atmosphere of many of his diverse experiences. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. More Details Other Editions 3. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about If It's Not Impossible Be the first to ask a question about If It's Not Impossible Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of If It's Not Impossible Jan 24, Faraaz Iqbal rated it liked it. I have a mixed opinion of this novel. I really like its detail, especially when describing the main character of the novel, Nicholas Winton, as well as explaining the details of the children rescued by Nicholas Winton during . I feel that this novel is very unbiased because of the objective form that this narrative takes, and little room is left for personal opinion. However, its objectivity is detrimental to the novel's appeal-I feel that this novel lacks the most important writing I have a mixed opinion of this novel. However, its objectivity If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton detrimental to the novel's appeal-I feel that this novel lacks the most important writing tools of all: flow and rhythm. This novel stated facts like a history textbook and was extremely dull in points. In addition to being too objective, I felt that the novel contained points which were completely irrelevant to the main theme of the Holocaust, such as the descriptions of friends of Winton, some of whom whose relationships to the main theme are negligible. One thing that really struck me about this novel was how well the theme of the Holocaust stood out. Through clear photos of documents, such as the identification papers of the children, I was able to realize the true devastation caused by the Holocaust, and how these children were separated from their families by this horrible time in history. Overall, I think this is a good novel to use in a school curriculum because of the lack of bias and If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton detailed information. However, don't expect to be entertained by this novel, as one would be by any other narrative. Aug 27, Clara Loh rated it it was amazing. After watching a video about Nicholas Winton, I was compelled to know more about his lifestory and indeed reading this recount by his daughter led to many discoveries. It was history told in a compassionate way, an unusual history lesson. Yes there was many facts and there's no need to go too deep or remember everything but it does help to build the sequence of key events. It made me think that one does not have to be someone in a noble or powerful role to make a difference to society If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton it's After watching a video about Nicholas Winton, I was compelled to know more about his lifestory and indeed reading this recount by his daughter led to many discoveries. It made me think that one does not have to be someone in a noble or powerful role to make a difference to society when it's needed. Memoirs are the best. Remembering the people that mattered and what mattered to them. Feb 13, Michal Jenicek rated it it was ok. Great life story, not so well written. Aug 21, Heather Scott rated it it was ok. Whilst the story of what Sir Nicholas achieved is phenomenal, I felt the book wasn't very well written or engaging enough for me. Oct 11, John Righten rated it really liked it. An amazing man, humble If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton brave. Oct 13, Paula Korelitz rated it liked it. Some truly interesting facts but, it just went on too long. Mar 20, Deena rated it really liked it Shelves: auto-biography-memoirholocaust-rescue-resistance. This is a very well written book about an interesting man - but to read it is to discover that he may not be interesting for the reasons you thought, or in the ways you thought. Before reading this book, I thought Sir Nicholas Winton should be recognized by as a Righteous Gentile in spite of the genetic technicality he was actually born Jewish, rendering him ineligible for the title Righteous "Gentile". However, having read the book and heard his own arguments with regard to this ho This is a very well written book about an interesting man - but to read it is to discover that he may not be interesting for the reasons you thought, or in the ways you thought. Do not misunderstand me: Sir Nicholas is a bonafide rescuer and humanitarian deserving of praise and gratitude. The honours he has been accorded are well earned and deserved. But he was also a rescuer unlike many others, perhaps even most others. Particularly considering that he is her If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton and that she has no training in methodology, Ms. Winton has done an excellent job with this book. There isn't nearly as much bias as one might expect; Ms. Winton takes pains to be as objective as she can, and points out frequently the character traits that can and have made Sir Nicholas difficult to work with and at times rather unlikeable as a person. She refers to him more than once as self-centered, and gives many examples of it. She doesn't use the word, but I would even say that there is an arrogance about him that I'm sure many people could find difficult to deal with. In some respects this is more of a study of the development of Sir Nicholas' ethics than a traditional biography. Since the period of time during which he rescued the children was a brief nine months inthat wouldn't make much of a book, especially without the day-by-day details that this book does not have. Instead Ms. Winton examines Sir Nicholas' family life and childhood and his years at school, looking for influences in the shape of people, events, and ideas. While I would have liked more detail about the period of the rescue, this is definitely worth reading. I like the fact that the blurb on the back includes the information that "there are around people who are alive today because of Nicholas Winton. There's a reason that the Talmud says "he who saves one life, it is as if he has saved the entire world. But even beyond the rescue of the children, Sir Nicholas is an interesting man and this book is worth reading for that as well. Aug 04, Steffi rated it it was amazing. Where to start I bought this book because of the DVD I was given by my dad as a gift. He knows of my love for documentaries but forgot I hate anything to do with war However, this one was an eye opener. The DVD is If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton a man, who is known as the British Schindler, yet hardly anyone seems to have heard about him. Nicholas Winton - Wikipedia

Born to German-Jewish parents who had emigrated to Britain at the beginning of the 20th century, Winton supervised the rescue of children, most of them Jewishfrom Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II. Winton found homes for the children and arranged for their safe passage to Britain. His work went unnoticed by the world for nearly 50 years, until when he was invited to the BBC television programme That's Life! The British press celebrated him and dubbed him the "British Schindler. He died in at the age of in his sleep. His elder sister was If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton — and the younger brother, Robert — InWinton entered Stowe Schoolwhich had just opened. He also earned a banking qualification in France. Returning to , he became a broker at the . At school, he had become an outstanding fencer and was selected for the British team in He had hoped to compete in the following Olympicsbut the games were cancelled If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton of the war. Shortly before ChristmasWinton was planning to travel to for a skiing holiday. Following a call for help from Marie Schmolka and Doreen Warriner[15] he decided instead to visit and help Martin Blake, [8] who was in Prague as an associate of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia[16] then in the process of being occupied by Germanyand had called Winton to ask him to assist in Jewish welfare work. Other foreign volunteers remained, such as Chadwick, Warriner and Wellington. An important obstacle was getting official permission to cross into the Netherlandsas the children were If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton embark on the ferry at Hook of Holland. After in Novemberthe Dutch government officially closed its borders to any Jewish refugees. The Dutch police, the marechausseesearched for them and returned any found to Germany, despite the horrors of Kristallnacht being well known. Winton succeeded, thanks to the guarantees he had obtained from Britain. After the first train, the process of crossing the went smoothly. Rooseveltasking them to take more children. Winton was in Prague for only about three weeks before the Nazis occupied the country. He later wrote that "Chadwick did the more difficult and dangerous work after the Nazis invaded Of the children saved from the Holocaust through Winton's efforts, more than have never been traced. BBC News suggested in that they may not know the full story of how they survived the war. After the outbreak of World War IIWinton applied successfully for registration as a and later served with the Red Cross. He was an aircraftmanrising to sergeant by the time he was commissioned on 22 June as an acting on probation. On 17 Augusthe was promoted to pilot officer on probation. After the war, Winton worked for the International Refugee Organization and then the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Paris, where he met Grete Gjelstrup, a Danish secretary and accountant's daughter. The family insisted that their son Robin stay with them rather than be sent to a residential home. Robin's death from meningitisthe day before his sixth birthday, affected Winton greatly and he founded a local support organisation which became Mencap. Winton stood, unsuccessfully, for the town If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton in ; [13] he later found work in the finance departments of various companies. It has been reported Winton suppressed his humanitarian exploits for many years; however, he mentioned them in his election material while unsuccessfully standing for election to the Maidenhead town council in She gave the scrapbook to Elisabeth Maxwella Holocaust researcher and wife of media magnate . The wider world found out about his work in February [51] during an episode of the BBC television programme That's Life! At one point, Winton's scrapbook was shown and his achievements were explained. The host of the programme, Esther Rantzenasked whether anybody in the audience owed their lives to Winton, and if so, to stand: more than two dozen people surrounding Winton rose and applauded. The rest of the audience stood. To celebrate his th birthday, Winton flew over the White Waltham Airfield in a microlight piloted by Judy Ledenthe daughter of one of the boys he saved. Winton died in his sleep on the morning of 1 July at Wexham Park Hospital in from cardio- respiratory failure, having been admitted a week earlier following a deterioration in his health. He was years old. Winton's death came 76 years to the day after of the children he saved left Prague on a train. In the Queen's Birthday HonoursWinton was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire MBE for his work in establishing the Abbeyfield homes for the elderly in Britain, and in the New Year Honourshe was knighted for services to humanity, in recognition of his work on the Czech Kindertransport. There are also three memorials at in London, where the Kindertransport children arrived. Created by If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton Karpinska, it depicts Winton sitting on a bench and reading a book. Winton was baptised as a Christian by his parents, but his Jewish ancestry disqualified him from being declared a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in Israel. Winton went on to describe his personal beliefs: "I believe in ethics, and if everybody believed in ethics we'd have no problems at all. That's the only way out; forget the religious side. Winton received the Wallenberg Medal on 27 June in London. The contest is for essays by high school students about Winton's legacy. Winton was awarded the Freedom of the City of London on 23 February In his old school, Stowe, opened a new boys' day house, named Winton. On 1 Septembera special "Winton Train" composed of one or two steam locomotives out of a set of six and carriages used in the s set off from the Prague Main railway station for London via the original Kindertransport route. On board were several surviving "Winton children" and their descendants, who were welcomed by Winton in London. The occasion marked the 70th anniversary of the final intended Kindertransport arranged If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton Winton, due to set off on 1 September but prevented by the outbreak of the Second World War that very day. On 19 MayWinton's th birthday, it was announced he was to receive the 's highest honour, for giving Czech children "the greatest possible gift: the chance to live and to be free". The award was made alongside one to Sir Winston Churchillwhich was accepted by his grandson . Zeman said he regretted the highest Czech award having been awarded to the two personalities so belatedly, but added "better late than never". He said, "I want to thank you all for this enormous expression of thanks for something which happened to me nearly years ago—and a years is a heck of a long time. I am delighted that so many of the children are still about and are here to thank me. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, on 28 OctoberWinton said he thought he had "made a difference to a lot of people" and went on to say, "I don't think we've learned anything… the world today is in a more dangerous situation than it has ever been. On 19 MayGoogle honoured Winton's legacy and celebrated what would have been his th birthday with a doodle. On 22 Aprila remembrance quarter If its Not Impossible.: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton was rung and a new method named Sir Nicholas Winton Delight by bellringers of the Whiting Society of Ringers. All funds donated were given to charities supporting Syrian refugee children. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. British banker who saved Jewish children in — HampsteadLondonEngland. SloughBerkshireEngland. Grete Gjelstrup. See also: Kindertransport. Play media. Main article: Winton Train. Biography portal Judaism portal. : Auschwitz. Archived from the original on 12 March Retrieved 3 September BBC News. Retrieved 18 September The London Gazette Supplement. Retrieved 19 May Kirkebog [ Parish Register ] photogram. CS1 maint: location link See No. The Guardian. London : Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 1 July Vallentine Mitchell. Winton Train. Archived from the original on 9 September Retrieved 30 April London Gazette. . Archived from the original on 18 July I was never in danger". Retrieved 30 December History Today. Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. History and Memory. Archived from the original on 7 February The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.