Nicholas Winton Died: who saved the 669 Jewish children during Nazism

Known as the "British Schindler", he has died at 106 years at his home in Maidenhead with her daughter and two grandchildren

Nicholas Winton, photographed in one of his last visits to Prague
The news of the death at 106 years of Nicholas Winton , known as the "British Schindler" for saving the lives of 669 Czechoslovak children, mostly Jews during the Nazi occupation , has shaken the Czech Republic.

29 years Winton devised a complicated operation to send in 1939 from Prague to London to children through several convoys of trains. "He was a man I admired him for his personal courage," said the Czech President Milos Zeman , who in 2014 gave the English philanthropist in person the highest state award of the Central European country: the Order of the White Lion .

The award, which then traveled to Prague with 105 years, said he only had "luck" and found "in the right place at the right time", with a modesty that some, including the head of the Czech government, have considered proverbial . "It has left a good man, Sir Nicholas Winton . Will forever be a symbol of courage, profound humanity and incredible modesty, " he tweeted the Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka .

One of the survivors, Zuzana Maresova , then seven years, said between sobs to the station Radiozurnal relationship with Winton was difficult to describe. "We were more than friends, he was the man of our heart. You can not explain "Maresova, which came out in one of eight chartered trains said Winton from Prague Main Railway Station in 1939.

Maresova only learned the details of the humanitarian operation in 1999 when Winton came to Prague at the invitation of the then President Vaclav Havel , to attend the premiere of the film "All my loved ones" , shot in his honor, and before highlight your figure charged among Czechs. "It was the first meeting. And then there were many more, "said Maresova on that exciting moment, when she still knew nothing, and was presented the person who saved her.

Michal Zantovsky, Czech ambassador to London, said it was "one of the most positive, optimistic and kind men I've ever met." Winton died in his sleep at his home in the town of Maidenhead in the presence of his daughter Barbara and two grandchildren.

Exactly 76 years that left Prague makes one of the convoys with 240 children , the then finance helped save. Knowledge of the operation he had when the British public broadcaster BBC , in 1988, issued a program that Winton was reunited with many of the people who escaped the Nazi death camps .

Was his wife who, ordering the attic of the house, he found papers spoke of humanitarian action, which was that Winton getting visas, bonds and adoptive families for children. But it was something that remained secret for years , until the philanthropist wife found out and wanted to bring it to light.