A Tribute to Nicholas Winton

Mr. Winton with little boy. (Obit, NYT)

My mama is a descendent of Bohemians.  Those from the Bohemia before Hitler, that is.  And she was very touched to read of the brave man who helped over 600 children from Bohemia and Moravia escape the terrors of Nazism in 1939, just before Hitler “dismembered the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia as a German ‘Protectorate’, beginning with 20 children crying for their parents who had to give them up to keep them alive.

The story is very moving and can be read here or in The New York Times obituary section.  An amazing man.

According to the Times, there are 6000 descendants from those he saved during the war.  Among the saved children were several who became famous, as you will see in the article.

Do we know our ancestors?  Mama’s step-grandkid is looking into his family tree, and mama’s cousin has been documenting his grandparents’ families for decades.  Anytime mama wish to know something about her grandmere or grandpere, or anyone from that side of the family, she calls up her cousin.  Amazing to find out just how one got to where one is and how many slips along the way could have kept one from actually being!  A sobering thought.

I still do not know where I came from, but I’m so glad that there were others before me who paved my way to mama and papa and the good life I live now.  I was an orphan once, too.

My first adopted day!

Maybe it is because mama is reading Orphan Train that she is so sensitive to these issues.  But Mr. Winton’s mother and others found good people in England to take in the children of Bohemia and Moravia separated from their parents.  I wonder how many found themselves together again after the war?

Hmmm…think I’ll look into that.

Meanwhile, I’m glad to have a family. Really, really glad.

Yes, I let some people snuggle me…but not always.

Papa’s knees–my favourite TV-watching place.