[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 137 (Monday, September 17, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H10397-H10400]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING THE REMARKABLE EXAMPLE OF SIR NICHOLAS WINTON
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree
to the resolution (H. Res. 583) recognizing the remarkable example of
Sir Nicholas Winton who organized the rescue of 669 Jewish
Czechoslovakian children from Nazi death camps prior to the outbreak of
World War II.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows
H. Res. 583
Whereas during the Holocaust, in which some 6,000,000 Jews
were brutally put to death by the Government of Nazi Germany,
a small number of individuals risked their lives and spent
fortunes to save the lives of others because they were decent
and courageous men and women of principle;
Whereas, in October 1938, the Nazi Government occupied the
Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia, which resulted in tens of
thousands of Jewish refugees fleeing the occupied areas and
seeking safety in the areas of as-yet unoccupied
Czechoslovakia;
Whereas, in late 1938, a 29-year-old British businessman,
Nicholas Winton, was encouraged by a friend at the British
Embassy in Prague to forgo a ski vacation in the Alps to
visit Prague and see first-hand the freezing refugee camps
filled with Jewish families who had fled the Sudetenland;
Whereas, in the face of this enormous suffering, Winton,
moved by feelings of deep compassion, undertook a massive
effort to help the children of many of these Jewish families
escape these horrible circumstances, though at that time
neither he nor they knew the full extent of the horrors that
awaited them;
Whereas Winton sought to find friendly governments which
would grant asylum to these Jewish refugee children, and his
efforts were rebuffed by the countries whose help he
requested, until the Governments of Sweden and the United
Kingdom agreed to accept children from the Czechoslovakian
refugee camps;
Whereas Winton and other volunteers gathered names and
other information on children whose parents recognized the
importance of getting their children beyond the reach of the
Nazi Government, and Winton was able to use this information
to identify foster homes for these refugee children;
Whereas Winton took the lead in raising funds to pay for
the transportation of the children from Prague to Britain and
Sweden and to pay an enormous government-imposed fee to cover
the costs of future repatriation;
Whereas, on March 14, 1939, the first 20 children left
Prague under Winton's auspices, and the very next day the
Nazi army overran the remainder of un-occupied
Czechoslovakia;
Whereas the heroic effort of Winton and other volunteers to
assist these young children flee occupied Czechoslovakia
continued for over six months until the outbreak of World War
II on September 1, 1939, during which time 669 children were
able to leave in a total of eight separate groups;
Whereas the ninth group of some 250 children was scheduled
to leave Prague on September 3, 1939, but was halted
following the outbreak of hostilities, and none of these 250
children lived to see the end of World War II six years
later;
[[Page H10398]]
Whereas this group of 669 children, saved through the
efforts of Winton and his collaborators, includes doctors,
nurses, teachers, musicians, artists, writers, pilots,
ministers, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and a Member
of the British Parliament, and today they and their children
and grandchildren and great-grandchildren number over 5,000
individuals, and these individuals live in the United States,
Canada, Australia, the Czech Republic, Britain, Germany, and
other countries;
Whereas Winton's achievement went unrecognized and
unacknowledged for more than half a century until his wife,
who knew nothing of this life-saving work, came across an old
leather briefcase in an attic in which she found lists of the
children, letters from their parents and other materials
documenting his efforts;
Whereas, of the 15,000 Czechoslovakian Jewish children who
fled to refugee camps or who were forced into concentration
camps during the Nazi occupation, only a handful survived
World War II, and Vera Gissing, one of the children saved by
Winton and the author of the script for the film ``Nicholas
Winton--the Power of Good'', which won the Emmy Award in
2002, said that Winton ``rescued the greater part of the
Jewish children of my generation in Czechoslovakia. Very few
of us met our parents again: they perished in concentration
camps. Had we not been spirited away, we would have been
murdered alongside them.''; and
Whereas Winton has been honored with the title of Member of
the British Empire (MBE), was awarded the Freedom of the City
of Prague, received the Czech Order of T. G. Masaryk, and was
given a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for services to
humanity: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) commends Sir Nicholas Winton and those British and
Czechoslovakian citizens who worked with him, for their
remarkable persistence and selfless courage in saving the
lives of 669 Czechoslovakian Jewish children in the months
before the outbreak of World War II; and
(2) urges men and women everywhere to recognize in Winton's
remarkable humanitarian effort the difference that one
devoted principled individual can make in changing and
improving the lives of others.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) and the gentleman from New Jersey
(Mr. Smith) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from American Samoa.
General Leave
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from American Samoa?
There was no objection.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I rise in strong support of this resolution, and I thank the
leadership of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Chairman Lantos and
our senior ranking member, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, for their support on this
resolution.
Let me also especially congratulate the chief sponsor and author of
this important resolution, my good friend and member of the Foreign
Affairs Committee, Congressman Klein, as well as the lead Republican
cosponsor, Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, for recognizing the unsung hero of
World War II, Sir Nicholas Winton.
Mr. Speaker, whenever humanity is enshrouded in the darkness of
atrocity and violence, there are a few scattered lights of moral
decency and personal courage that give hope to all mankind that
darkness will not prevail.
{time} 1600
Arguably, Mr. Speaker, there has not been a more terrible period of
darkness than that of World War II when Nazi Germany systematically
murdered more than 6 million Jewish people. Even during that terrible
period there were lights in the moral darkness and who kept alive the
values of decency, compassion and courage. One such person was a 29-
year-old British businessman, Mr. Nicholas Winton.
During his frequent business trips to Germany, Mr. Winton observed
firsthand the virulent anti-Semitism that prevailed in that country and
manifested itself in arrests, harassment, and physical attacks on
Jewish people. In 1935, Germany codified anti-Semitism by enacting the
Nuremberg Race Laws.
Mr. Speaker, after the Munich Agreement of 1938 and the subsequent
annexation of Germany of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia, Mr.
Winton became concerned that Nazi Germany could not be appeased.
Indeed, on November 9 of that year, 1938, anti-Semitic violence
exploded across Germany and Austria. Because of the broken glass in the
streets, that date is remembered as Kristallnacht.
Soon afterwards, Mr. Winton was encouraged even by a friend at the
British Embassy in Prague to forgo a ski vacation in the Alps and
instead to visit what was left of Czechoslovakia in order to see the
refugee camps filled with freezing Jewish families who had fled the
Sudetenland.
Mr. Speaker, he was deeply moved by the suffering he saw and was
convinced immediate action had to be taken. Mr. Winton conceived of an
idea. Upon his return to Great Britain, he organized volunteers to
collect names of children whose parents were desperate to get them
beyond the reach of the Nazi Government.
Mr. Winton then identified foster homes for those refugee children in
Britain and in Sweden. He raised money to fund their transportation and
to pay fees imposed by the government to cover the costs of future
repatriation.
Mr. Speaker, on March 14, 1939, the first 20 children of this venture
left Prague. The very next day the Nazi Army overran the remainder of
unoccupied Czechoslovakia. Mr. Winton and his volunteers continued
their dangerous work for another 6 months, until the full outbreak of
World War II on September 1st.
During this time, Mr. Winton and his volunteers saved 669 children.
These were children who escaped the Holocaust and who later had their
own lives and families, thanks to the efforts of this one man.
Mr. Speaker, tragically, a final group of 250 children scheduled to
leave on September 3 was prevented from doing so. None of them lived to
see the end of World War II.
It is by coincidence that we even learned about the heroic efforts of
now 97-year-old Mr. Nicholas Winton, who never sought any recognition
for his actions. Even his wife was unaware of what he had done until
she found an old leather briefcase in an attic that contained documents
pertaining to the rescue operations.
Mr. Speaker, the world has now begun to pay tribute to the brave acts
of this modest hero, a true man, in my opinion. He was knighted by
Queen Elizabeth II and made a member of the British Empire. He received
the honor of the Freedom of the City of Prague and was made a member of
the order named for the father of Czechoslovakia.
It is appropriate, Mr. Speaker, for this House to recognize the
courageous efforts of this one man, Sir Nicholas Winton, during one of
history's darkest moments.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
I am pleased, Mr. Speaker, to take this opportunity to rise in
support of House Resolution 583 recognizing the remarkable example of
Sir Nicholas Winton, who organized the rescue of 669 Jewish
Czechoslovakian children from Nazi death camps prior to the outbreak of
World War II.
Sir Nicholas Winton, like many of life's heroes, sought no publicity
for his efforts, which ultimately saved those young lives. In fact, for
more than 50 years Winton's heroism went unrecognized until his wife,
Greta, stumbled across a leather briefcase in their attic in which she
found documentation of the children smuggled out of Nazi-occupied
Czechoslovakia and letters written by their parents.
Though less well known, Sir Nicholas' story has much in common with
Oskar Schindler's, which has been celebrated in both print and film.
In 1938, Nicholas, a British subject, traveled to Prague, where he
was haunted by the impression of refugee camps which were newly
constructed there. This experience motivated him to tirelessly lobby
the British Government in attempts to secure visas for Czechoslovakian
Jewish refugee children.
Winton's efforts enabled the safe escape to Britain of almost 700
kids who surely would have perished without his intervention. Sir
Nicholas' mission was
[[Page H10399]]
even more challenging, as it required that he first find a foster
family to accept each child before they would be accepted into the
country.
It is staggering to consider today that there are over 5,000
descendants of ``Winton children'' around the world, including the UK,
Canada, Czech Republic and the United States, lives that would have
perished without Sir Nicholas' selfless dedication to a remarkable
humanitarian mission.
Nearly 100 years old today, Sir Nicholas Winton has been honored with
the title Member of the British Empire and with knighthood from Queen
Elizabeth II.
I encourage my colleagues to support this and I thank Mr. Klein for
his authorship of this legislation
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of our time.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I yield all
the time that he needs to the author of this important resolution, my
good friend and also a senior member of our committee, the gentleman
from Florida (Mr. Klein).
Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlemen for the
presentation and the support of the resolution, House Resolution 583. I
would also like to thank Chairman Lantos, who has a deep and abiding
understanding of the circumstances leading up to and what occurred
during the Holocaust, and of course Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
and my cosponsor, Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart from Florida.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a true hero, Mr. Nicholas Winton,
who saved more than 600 children from their death during the Holocaust.
Nine months before the outbreak of World War II, Nicholas Winton, then
only 29 years old, a young man, used his business and personal
connections, urgently working from the dining room of a hotel room, and
found safety for these hundreds of children.
Nicholas Winton took the lead in raising the necessary funds to
assure transportation for these children. As was said already, he found
foster homes and arranged for the necessary permits and documents. But
let's understand this is not just an administrative function that we
would think of today to place children. This was under threat of death
of himself, his family and anybody who assisted. He saved these
children's lives, since most of their families and contemporaries
remained in Czechoslovakia, and they soon perished.
These children grew up to be doctors, nurses, teachers, musicians,
artists, writers, pilots, ministers, scientists, engineers,
entrepreneurs, and even a member of the British Parliament. Today they
and their children and grandchildren and great grandchildren number
over 5,000 human beings, living in the United States, Canada,
Australia, the Czech Republic, Britain, Germany and elsewhere.
Nicholas Winton, as was already indicated, was given a knighthood
from Queen Elizabeth II for his services to humanity. Sir Nicholas
never sought credit for saving the lives of these children. In fact,
his achievement went unrecognized for more than half a century, and
until 1988 his family never knew about it.
For 50 years they were called ``Winton's children,'' as the survivors
called themselves, and did not know who to even thank or to whom they
owed their lives. The story only emerged when his wife came across a
satchel in the attic and found lists of children and letters from their
parents.
In 1939, as he scrambled to save hundreds of lives, Nicholas Winton
wrote in a letter: ``There is a difference between passive goodness and
active goodness, which is, in my opinion, the giving of one's time and
energy in the alleviation of pain and suffering. It entails going out,
finding and helping those in suffering and danger and not merely in
leading an exemplary life in a purely passive way of doing no wrong.''
The life of Sir Nicholas is certainly an example of active goodness.
Just as we will never forget the horrors and deaths of the Holocaust,
we must also never forget the examples of bravery and heroism that
still serve as our role models today.
On a personal note, as with many people in this country, much of my
grandparents' family was killed in the Holocaust. I think many of us in
this country understand and recognize the importance of a man who stood
up as bravely as he did, and there were many others who did the same
and risked their lives in doing this.
I thank the members of Congress today. I urge my colleagues to
support this resolution to honor the life and accomplishments of Sir
Nicholas Winton, a hero to many and a model for all.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for
his most eloquent statement. Maybe some day these 5,000 children of Mr.
Winton might have a reunion somewhere in the United States to express a
real sense of appreciation to this gentleman.
I recall, Mr. Speaker, the statement by the late Martin Luther King,
Jr., who said that in the end we will not remember the words of our
enemies, but the silence of our friends. Here is one gentleman that was
not silent about human rights and what he did for some 669 children
whose descendants now enjoy the benefits of what he did some 60 years
ago.
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support
of H. Res. 583, recognizing the remarkable example of Sir Nicholas
Winton, who organized the rescue of 669 Jewish Czechoslovakian children
from Nazi death camps prior to the outbreak of World War II. I would
like to thank my colleague, Congressman Ron Klein, for introducing this
important legislation, as well as the lead Republican cosponsor,
Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
Mr. Speaker, today we recognize one of the great unsung heroes of
World War II; a man who stood up against extraordinary evil to defend
innocent children. Sir Nicholas Winton is an individual of profound
moral decency and personal courage, who, in the midst of the immense
darkness of World War II, offered hope that the perpetrators of
horrendous atrocities would not prevail.
In 1938, Nicholas Winton, a 29-year-old clerk at the London Stock
Exchange, visited Prague and was immediately concerned by the refugee
situation. His frequent business trips to Germany had given him first-
hand knowledge of the virulent anti-Semitism codified by the 1935
Nuremberg Race laws, manifesting itself in ever-increasing attacks,
harassment, and arrest of Jewish people in Germany. The 1938 Munich
Agreement, which gave Hitler control over the Sudetenland region of
Czechoslovakia and was hailed by British Prime Minister as a ``peace
for our time,'' did not ease Winton's fears, and he came to recognize
that Germany could not be appeased.
When Winton visited Prague, he found refugee camps, full of freezing
Jewish families who had fled the Sudetenland. In particular, he was
alarmed that nothing was being done to help the many innocent children,
trapped in the gathering storm of war. Before returning to London, he
set up a system of Kindertransport, where the names of children where
collected and paired with foster homes in Britain and Sweden. When
families could not pay to transport their children beyond the reaches
of the Nazis, Winton raised money to fund transportation and other
fees.
On March 14, 1939, only a day before the Nazi army occupied all of
Czechoslovakia, the first 20 children left Prague. Over the next six
months, a total of 669 children were sent via 8 trains to London, where
families waited to shelter them. These children were spared the horror
of the concentration camps by the courageous efforts of one man. Vera
Gissing, one of the many children who, thanks to Winton's work,
survived the war, later wrote, ``He rescued the greater part of the
Jewish children of my generation in Czechoslovakia. Very few of us met
our parents again: they perished in concentration camps. Had we not
been spirited away, we would have been murdered alongside them.''
A 9th train was scheduled to leave on September 3, 1939, with 250
children onboard. Tragically, Great Britain entered the war that very
day, and the train was prevented from leaving Prague, and it later
disappeared. None of the children on board was ever heard from again,
and none survived the war. In all, 15,000 Czech children were killed in
the Holocaust.
Nicholas Winton is a reluctant hero, who never bragged about his
courageous work. He never sought recognition for his actions, and we
only learned about his efforts by coincidence. His good deeds did not
end with the war's conclusion, and he was awarded a Member of the Order
of the British Empire title in 1983 for his charitable work with the
elderly. He was further recognized by the City of Prague and the nation
of Czechoslovakia.
Sir Nicholas Winton epitomizes the greatness of the human spirit. He
stood against the forces of darkness and helped the powerless during
one of history's blackest hours, and then never sought recognition for
his extraordinary accomplishments. Six hundred and
[[Page H10400]]
sixty-nine children were saved from suffering the horrific fate that
befell so many of their friends and family members due to his daring,
creativity, and compassion. I am grateful for the opportunity to pay
tribute to this extraordinary man, and I strongly urge my colleagues to
support this resolution.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Michaud). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) that
the House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 583.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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