Philanthropist, humanitarian and British hero, Sir Nicholas Winton, has been recognised for his honourable actions during the Holocaust through the naming of a new Czech street, along with a sizeable mural. 

The street has been unveiled as a memorial for Winton to remember his transportation of 669 Jewish Czech children to Britain, saving them from the horrors of concentration camps. 

The liberal-minded, British stockbroker was determined to help Jewish children after receiving a letter from fellow labour socialist, Martin Blake. The letter urged Winton to help refuge children from Prague to spare them from the concentration camps.

By writing to the British embassy and organising asylum shelters, Winton arranged eight trains to transport children to Britain to live with either their family members or, for the majority, complete strangers. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Winton saved 669 children through this initiative, known as Kindertransport, sending Jewish children from Czechoslovakia to Britain.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Winton saved 669 children through this initiative, known as Kindertransport, sending Jewish children from Czechoslovakia to Britain.

Winton was knighted in 2003 and passed away in 2015. 

On September 3rd 2024, a ceremony was held in honour of the new street, coinciding with the 85th anniversary of the final Kindertransport journey. The location of the street is next to Bubny Station, where 50,000 Jews were victims to the passage leading to concentration camps. This street serves as a memorial to those who mandatorily boarded these trains and perished under Nazi rule. 

On September 3rd 2024, a ceremony was held in honour of the new street, coinciding with the 85th anniversary of the final Kindertransport journey.

The new street now links the East and West districts together. The British Ambassador to the Czech Republic commented on this, saying the connections of the two districts is a ‘beautiful symbolic aspect.’ 

Four of the children, who were saved by Winton, attended the ceremony. Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines is a 94-year-old survivor who speaks out about Winton’s work. She told the BBC that ‘there is a big generation- thanks to him- alive today.’ 

Lady Baines further mentions the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR), who attended the ceremony to ‘pay tribute to our saviour and a great sadness for those we had to leave behind.’  

AJR is a welfare service providing support to the survivors of the Holocaust. AJR worked in support of Prague 7 municipal district and many other charities (specifically Memorial of Silence and The Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic) to name the street and to honour Sir Nicholas Winton.

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