Sir Nicholas Winton: Holocaust saviour's son lauds 'extraordinary' film

The son of Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 Jewish children from the Nazis before World War Two, has praised an "extraordinary" portrayal of his father in a new film.

One Life, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, has its European premiere in London later.

The humanitarian's son, Nick Winton, said the actor's performance "sent a shiver up my back".

He said: "There were times when I thought I was in the same room as Pa."

The film shows how Sir Nicholas, a London stockbroker and the son of German Jews, helped to get young Jewish refugees out of occupied Czechoslovakia in 1938.

Alongside a few volunteers - including his mother - Sir Nicholas arranged train travel, visas and funding.

Sir Anthony Hopkins portrays Sir Nicholas Winton in One Life

A train carrying 250 children was scheduled to leave on 1 September 1939.

Nick Winton told BBC Radio Berkshire: "That was the day that Hitler marched into Poland, war was declared and the borders were closed.

"The train didn't leave. Most of the children died. Whenever he talked about it, he reflected mostly on the failure rather than the success."

The story of the rescued children was not known, even by Sir Nicholas' family, until the 1980s when documents were found at his home in Pinkneys Green, near Maidenhead.

In 1988, he was invited onto the BBC TV programme 'That's Life!'.

Unbeknown to him, the audience contained some of those who owed their lives to his rescue operation.

Nick Winton said he only became fully aware of his father's heroism after the broadcast of the BBC's That's Life!

His son said: "I think the first time that it actually made any impact on me was when I saw the first introduction of the people he'd saved to him on That's Life!.

"It still sends a prickle down my neck every time I see it.

"He was often asked: 'Why did you keep it a secret?' And he said: 'I didn't keep it a secret, I just didn't talk about it.'"

Sir Nicholas, who was knighted in 2003, died in 2015 at the age of 106.

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