Like us Nicholas Winton came from a Jewish-German family that converted to Christianity. He lived in Great Britain, but was due to go on holiday to Switzerland at the end of 1938. However, he did not get there when he received disturbing signals from friends in Prague.
He decided to help organize the departure of 669 Jewish children from occupied Czechoslovakia to Great Britain. The children traveled by rail across Europe, and Winton had to provide each little runaway with a place in a British family and pay £50 each.
Anthony Hopkins as “British Schindler”
The screenplay for the film is by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake, and it was based on the book “If It’s Not Impossible … The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton”, which was written by Barbara Winton – the daughter of the British hero. In it, the man confessed how he convinced the British government to allow Czech, as well as German and Austrian children to enter the UK.
“One Life” was mainly shot in Prague, from where the escape transport set off. Currently, post-production work is underway, which the film crew must deal with quickly, because the premiere of the title will take place in September at the Toronto Film Festival. The cinema premiere will take place in December.
In addition to Anthony Hopkins, who played the older Nicholas Winton, we will also see Johnny Flynn (young Winton) and Helena Bonham Carter, who played the mother of the main character. The cast also includes Jonathan Pryce, Romola Garai, Lena Olin and Alex Sharp.
Nicholas Winton was extremely modest. For almost 50 years, he did not talk about his heroism
The last train, with about 250 children, was supposed to leave Prague on September 1, 1939, but the outbreak of war meant that the plan failed. For the next 50 years, Nicholas Winton made no mention of his part in saving Jews from extermination. All because of remorse at the thought of those whom he could not help.
The world heard about his achievements thanks to his wife, who one day found an album in the attic. It contained information about her husband’s pre-war activities, including a list of all the children he had helped to escape. The woman informed television and in 1988 the BBC invited Winton to a program featuring the Jews he had saved.
The man did not know anything, and at some point, at the request of the presenter, the survivors rose from their chairs, thanking their savior. This moment is one of the most iconic and touching in the history of British television, and the man came to terms with the fact that he had not been able to help everyone. Winston received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II and the highest state decoration from the President of the Czech Republic. He died in 2015 at the age of 106.
Source: Gazeta
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