Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton dies aged 106

He decided to mount his rescue mission after visiting refugee camps and seeing there was no organised relief effort for the children there.

After persuading the Home Office to open the UK’s doors, he ensured that between March and August 1939, 669 Czech children — most of them Jewish — arrived on eight Kindertransport trains.

Sir Nicholas then found them foster families upon their arrival in the UK.

He was knighted in 2003, and in October last year he received the Order of the White Lion – the highest Czech state honour – from the country’s president in a ceremony at Prague Castle.

Sir Nicholas said at the time: “I am delighted that so many of the children are still about and are here to thank me.”

Vera Schaufeld came to Britain from Czechoslovakia on the Kindertransport in 1939, but it was 40 years before she learnt of Sir Nicholas’ role in saving her life.

“As a child I had no idea how I came to be on the Kindertransport. I had lots of letters from my parents, but I never saw my family again,” she explained.

“Esther Rantzen invited people from Czechoslovakia to contact the BBC. I think that was in the late 1980s. For more than 40 years we didn’t know we owed our lives to Sir Nicholas.

“The first time I met him was on That’s Life. It was the first time I knew who was responsible.

“After that I met him quite a few times. I was really grateful to have the opportunity to thank him for all he did.”

Mrs Schaufeld travelled to Maidenhead to celebrate Sir Nicholas’ 105th birthday.

“He was so alert, so curious about why we there,” she explained. “It was amazing for someone that age.

“I am really sad to hear of his death, but his life was of such great value to so many people. I’m so grateful to him for allowing me to have such a happy life.”

Tributes were paid from across the community after Sir Nicholas died on Wednesday.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "The world has lost a great man. We must never forget Sir Nicholas Winton's humanity in saving so many children from the Holocaust."

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said: "Sir Nicholas Winton was one of the greatest people I have ever met - his loss will be deeply felt across the Jewish world."

Emeritus Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks said: "Sir Nicholas Winton was one of the heroes of our time, a man who saved 669 mostly Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Second World War. He was ‘the British Schindler’, all the more impressive for thinking that there was nothing special about what he did, seeking neither honour nor recognition.

“Our sages said that saving a life is like saving a universe. Sir Nicholas saved hundreds of universes. He was a giant of moral courage and determination, and he will be mourned by Jewish people around the world.”

Board of Deputies chief executive Gillian Merron said: “We are saddened to hear of the death of Sir Nicholas Winton. His bravery and persistence in organising the rescue of hundreds of Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Second World War was matched only by his modesty. He will always be held in the highest regard as one of our great heroes and humanitarians.”

Rabbi Jonathan Romain, of Maidenhead Synagogue, said: “How many of us even save one life? That is heroic enough in itself. To save 669 is almost beyond description.

“Winton always expressed surprise at the attention he received and denied that he was courageous, claiming that ‘I was at the right place at the right time’. He was mistaken. He deliberately went to the right place and then acted in the right way, and at a time when many others did neither.

“He stands out as a beacon for all those who respond to calls for help when they could so easily pretend not to hear.”

Home Secretary Theresa May - MP for Maidenhead - also honoured Sir Nicholas as “a hero of the 20th century. Against the odds, he almost single-handedly rescued hundreds of children, most Jewish, from the Nazis – an enduring example of the difference that good people can make even in the darkest of times.

“So many people owe their lives to Nicholas and it was fitting that, in his later years, he finally received the recognition he deserved. Maidenhead is rightly proud of all that he did, and we must ensure that his legacy lives on by continuing to tackle antisemitism and discrimination wherever it arises.”

Sir Mick Davis, chair of the Jewish Leadership Council and of the Prime Minister’s Holocaust Commission said: “There are few people who have had such an impact on history as Sir Nicholas Winton. Whilst the world stood by as Jews were persecuted by the Nazi’s in the period before the Second World War and then annihilated in the years of the Holocaust, Sir Nicholas refused to be a bystander or to allow evil to prevail. He made a remarkable personal intervention in what is today known as the Kinder transport and saved the lives of young and innocent Jewish children who otherwise would have most certainly have died in the concentration camps.

"His legacy lives on in the thousands of people, directly and indirectly, who owe their lives to his heroism. His name shall endure for generations as a symbol of the power of ordinary people to make a difference to the lives of others. I pass on my condolences to his family at this time as we all mourn his passing.“

Jacques Weisser, executive director of the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women, called Sir Nicholas “an outstanding, absolutely remarkable person”.

He continued: “He’ll be a loss to the following generations of Holocaust survivors and their children and grandchildren. I’m really sorry that he has passed away and of course we extend our deepest condolences to the family. He’ll be remembered by many for the outstanding contribution he made to saving so many lives in what was a partly difficult time.

“Many people alive today would not have been if it had not been for his intervention and wonderful work in Europe on behalf of all those unfortunate people. I’m really sad about it. It's not so long ago that we were celebrating his birthday, and all those people who came to give their appreciation and grateful thanks. An absolutely outstanding personality too; everything he did subsequently was amazing too. To a lot of people he was basically their father, and they kept in touch with him.

“I can only begin to imagine how much the Jewish community will mourn his loss. We owe him a great debt of gratitude. If only there were more like him. It only takes one person to make a difference, and he did.”

Holocaust Educational Trust chief executive Karen Pollock said: “Sir Nicholas Winton’s selfless, noble and courageous acts saved 669 young Jewish lives from the horrors of the Holocaust.

"‘Nicky’s children’, as they have come to be known, and the generations who have followed them, will be eternally grateful for this modest man. Anyone who has heard of Nicholas Winton has learnt something about standing up against injustice – he was a hero of our time. He will be greatly missed.”

Michael Newman, Association of Jewish Refugees chief executive, said: "Sir Nicholas will be rightly venerated as a true hero whose bravery, altruism and determination saved the lives of some of the youngest victims of Nazi oppression.

"He was notably modest about his remarkable achievements, which will hopefully inspire future generations to intervene when others are in need of help. Our sympathies, thoughts and prayers are with his family, who can reflect with great pride on his human kindness and a full life of compassion.”

Israel ambassador Daniel Taub said Sir Nicholas was a hero of our time. "His legacy, as a point of light in an era of darkness, will forever be remembered".

World Jewish Relief chief executive Paul Anticoni said: "His legacy, saving 669 children from the Nazis, will endure forever. The British Jewish community is, and will remain, forever grateful for his courage, bravery and extraordinary achievement. His modest, unassuming manner, despite his remarkable achievements, makes him a role-model for us all.”

Sir Nicholas’ wife Grete passed away in 1999. He is survived by his daughter Barbara, and two grandchildren.

Watch Sir Nicholas Winton in the BBC's "That's Life" aired in 1988: