"All the gates of compassion seemed to have been closed."

July 1, 2015 9:21 AM

Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 Jewish children as part of the Kindertransport in 1939, died today aged 106.
posted by Thing (55 comments total)

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posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 9:25 AM on July 1, 2015

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What a good man.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:26 AM on July 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

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posted by maxsparber at 9:29 AM on July 1, 2015 [12 favorites]

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posted by hopeless romantique at 9:32 AM on July 1, 2015

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posted by Cash4Lead at 9:34 AM on July 1, 2015

Here he is in 1988 getting surprised by some of the 669.
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 9:35 AM on July 1, 2015 [24 favorites]

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posted by discopolo at 9:38 AM on July 1, 2015

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posted by a lungful of dragon at 9:41 AM on July 1, 2015

. Wow. What courage.
posted by pearlybob at 9:48 AM on July 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

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posted by lalochezia at 9:49 AM on July 1, 2015

This 60 Minutes profile of him is excellent. A genuine hero.
posted by briank at 9:56 AM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

A genuine hero.

This. "Hero" gets tossed around and affixed to all manner of non-heroes these days. This guy is the real deal.


.∞
posted by Thorzdad at 10:08 AM on July 1, 2015 [7 favorites]

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posted by glhaynes at 10:15 AM on July 1, 2015

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posted by BlueJae at 10:22 AM on July 1, 2015

His story makes me want to be a better person.

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posted by delight at 10:29 AM on July 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

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posted by cass at 10:40 AM on July 1, 2015

Excellent job Mr. Winton, thank you!
posted by Meatbomb at 10:46 AM on July 1, 2015

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posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:47 AM on July 1, 2015

The real deal.
posted by uraniumwilly at 10:50 AM on July 1, 2015

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posted by brecc at 10:57 AM on July 1, 2015

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posted by ocschwar at 11:13 AM on July 1, 2015

All of them. All of them. My god, those people.
posted by corb at 11:17 AM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

I feel like he shouldn't get a . but some sort of \|/ or something to represent the life he released back into the world.

669 children and 106 years. Can't pack much more life in than that.
posted by St. Hubbins at 11:21 AM on July 1, 2015 [10 favorites]

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posted by Canageek at 11:25 AM on July 1, 2015

684. It mentions fifteen more that he rescued by plane.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:32 AM on July 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 11:33 AM on July 1, 2015

"I work on the motto that if something is not impossible there must be a way of doing it."

-Nicholas Winton

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posted by Bistle at 11:53 AM on July 1, 2015 [6 favorites]

What an amazing man.
posted by Too-Ticky at 12:52 PM on July 1, 2015

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Never heard of him until today, but still, may he Rest in Grace.
posted by infini at 1:53 PM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

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posted by Small Dollar at 1:55 PM on July 1, 2015

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posted by brundlefly at 2:19 PM on July 1, 2015

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posted by threetwentytwo at 2:35 PM on July 1, 2015

I will always remember this man.
posted by Palindromedary at 2:41 PM on July 1, 2015

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posted by newdaddy at 2:47 PM on July 1, 2015

There are few people who I would call "righteous", but he was surely one of them.

(And while TV so often panders to the lowest common denominator, that was superb)

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posted by 43rdAnd9th at 2:54 PM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

How fortunate that he lived in a time when he couldn't be stopped by ubiquitous government surveillance.
posted by Twang at 2:55 PM on July 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

Humanity thanks you.
posted by sety at 3:29 PM on July 1, 2015

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posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 3:38 PM on July 1, 2015

It's worth reading the Washington Post's obituary, too:
Nicholas Winton, rescuer of children during the Holocaust, dies at 106

He wrote letters to government leaders around the world, including in the United States. Nearly all of them turned down his requests for assistance. “If America had only agreed to take them, too,” he said, “I could have saved at least 2,000 more.”

Thousands of lives could have been saved before and during the war with literally a stroke of the pen. The refugees that did make it to the USA enriched it enormously. If Winton is a hero for saving these children, at enormous personal effort and expense, what does that say about the people who might have saved many more so easily - but refused.
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:52 PM on July 1, 2015 [6 favorites]

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posted by BlahLaLa at 6:52 PM on July 1, 2015

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The doc Nicky's Family is worth a look.
posted by brujita at 8:40 PM on July 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

It really feels as if one of the 36 righteous ones who hold up the Earth has passed. Peace be with him and those he leaves behind.
posted by miss patrish at 9:35 PM on July 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

The world has lost an amazing man.
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posted by BlueHorse at 10:21 PM on July 1, 2015

Wow, apparently I know a guy whose mother was one of the 669. He's a coworker and I didn't know much about his background until he brought it up today. I was reading this thread earlier and thinking how staggering this man's impact was, and finding out that in fact a geeky, funny guy I know literally wouldn't exist if Nicholas Winton hadn't done what he did brought that home with the force of a sledgehammer.

What a loss.
posted by town of cats at 10:27 PM on July 1, 2015 [6 favorites]

All of my respect to this man.

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posted by Puddle Jumper at 10:44 PM on July 1, 2015

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posted by jabo at 11:22 PM on July 1, 2015

The That's Life clip is one of those ones which always seems to attract a bit of grit into my eye. RIP Nicky.
posted by MattWPBS at 1:52 AM on July 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

It is a mark of the man that he refused the description of himself as a hero as he said that his life was never at risk (unlike, say, Schindler): Guardian story. Also, marvellously, he was somewhat grumpy about having been set up for that rather sickly Esther Rantzen piece.

The world is a lesser place for Nicholas Winton's passing.
posted by epo at 4:08 AM on July 2, 2015

I am glad that he was, I am glad to have learned about him, and I am glad he seems to have lived a full life because he built it to be that way.

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posted by seyirci at 8:06 AM on July 2, 2015

Tearing up after the That's Life clip. What a mensch. Also.

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posted by bearwife at 11:56 AM on July 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

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posted by mixedmetaphors at 4:09 PM on July 2, 2015

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posted by pemberkins at 6:01 PM on July 2, 2015

What a great human being.
posted by dougzilla at 1:45 AM on July 3, 2015

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posted by klausness at 9:49 AM on July 5, 2015

I wasn't aware of this previously, but apparently the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem was one of the children saved through Sir Nicholas Winton's efforts. He wrote a very nice letter of condolence (in English) to their family. via.
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:11 PM on July 16, 2015