1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,160 Speaker 1: The first time in a national broadcast that his story 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:11,240 Speaker 1: became known again around Britain. They called him to the studio, 3 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: put him in the front row, told him they were 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: going to tell his story for the first time in 5 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,479 Speaker 1: fifty years. Didn't tell him who else was in the audience, 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:24,079 Speaker 1: but the hostess of the TV program shows some of 7 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: the paraphernalia from that time, shows the list of children's 8 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: names that was found in his attic, tells the story, 9 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: and then she says, if by chance there might be 10 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:41,120 Speaker 1: someone in this audience today who owes their life to 11 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:47,240 Speaker 1: Nicholas Winton, please stand well. They had looked up those names, 12 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: trying to find as many of the children now in 13 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:54,279 Speaker 1: their fifties and sixties as they could, and that's who 14 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: comprised the audience. And with NICKI seated in the front row, 15 00:00:58,040 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: everybody stands. 16 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 2: Welcome to an army of normal folks. I'm Bill Portney. 17 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:09,960 Speaker 2: I'm a normal guy. I'm a husband, I'm a father, 18 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 2: I'm an entrepreneur, and I've been a football coach in 19 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 2: Inner City Memphis. And the last part somehow led to 20 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 2: an oscar for the film about our team. It's called Undefeated, y'all. 21 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,480 Speaker 2: I believe our country's problems will never be solved by 22 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 2: a bunch of fancy people and nice suits talking big 23 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 2: words that nobody ever uses on CNN and Fox, but 24 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 2: rather by an army of normal folks. Guys, that's us, 25 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 2: just you and me deciding, Hey, you know what, maybe 26 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 2: I can help. And that's exactly what Nicholas Winton did. 27 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 2: Witten saved the lives of hundreds of children from the Nazis, 28 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 2: and today, along with Larry Reid, the author of Real Heroes, 29 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 2: we pay tribute to him as part of our special 30 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 2: series An Army of Normal Dead Folks. I cannot wait 31 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 2: for you to meet Nicholas Winton right after these brief 32 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 2: messages from our general sponsors. Okay, here is maybe I'm 33 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 2: not going to say my favorite of the group, but 34 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 2: chapter twenty five is Nicholas Winton, the humblest hero, and 35 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 2: I absolutely love his story. And here's one I'd never 36 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,920 Speaker 2: heard the name mentioned before. Tell us the story of 37 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 2: our humblest hero, Nicholas Winton. 38 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: This is one bill that I can tell from some 39 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: personal experience, really, because he is one of the few 40 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 1: people in my book that I actually came to know myself. 41 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: Really visited him a half dozen times. That's fabulous in London. 42 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: He's the oldest man that I ever came to know. 43 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: He passed away in twenty fifteen at the age of 44 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: one oh six. 45 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 2: Holy smokes, and it did. I didn't know that part either. Oh. 46 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: There was a documentary done about him called The Power 47 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,640 Speaker 1: of Good. You can see it in excerpts on YouTube, 48 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: way back in the early two thousands. I had not 49 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,519 Speaker 1: heard his story before I saw that documentary. 50 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:33,959 Speaker 2: Honestly, his story was Schindler Schindler's List Isheah, it's similar, 51 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 2: It is different, but similar. But tell us the story 52 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 2: because it is an absolute, unbelievable story of compassion and 53 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 2: care and risk and humility. And if you think about 54 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 2: the generation after generation of what he did, I mean, 55 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 2: untold numbers of lives today are on earth because of him. 56 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, more than six thousand as a matter of fact, phenomenal. 57 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 2: Well. 58 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: Nicki went and went by Nicki most of the time. 59 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: Was a twenty nine year old stockbroker in nineteen thirty eight, 60 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,280 Speaker 1: and remember that was the last full year of peace 61 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 1: before the outbreak of the Second World War. And Nicki 62 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: was a very successful stockbroker. He was on his way 63 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: to becoming a wealthy man, and he had planned a 64 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: trip to Switzerland for a Christmas time nineteen thirty eight. 65 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: This was just two months or three months after the 66 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: Munich Agreement, where Britain and France said to Hitler, Okay, 67 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: if you just take the Sudatean land, the fringe area 68 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: of Czechoslovakia and don't move any further, we won't go 69 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: to war. 70 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 2: This is basically Neville Chamberlain, yes, trying to pacify Hitler 71 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 2: by allowing Hitler to possess land that she shouldn't be 72 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 2: possessing and thinking, okay, well that'll be enough. Neville Chamberlain 73 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:16,679 Speaker 2: never understood that Hitler was just wedding his beak. 74 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, that was called appeasement even at that time by 75 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: Chamberlain's foes, and it was appeasement. 76 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,920 Speaker 2: You know. Interestingly, I can't help but wonder if we're 77 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 2: dealing with the same thing today with Putin and Ukraine. 78 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, you can make a good argument for that. What 79 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:36,359 Speaker 1: a tragic situation. 80 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,680 Speaker 2: I mean for our listeners to get a similar feel. 81 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 2: You know, Putin has invaded Ukraine and taken certain parts 82 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 2: of it, and while the Western world has armed Ukraine 83 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 2: to defend itself. It certainly hasn't come to Ukraine's rescue. 84 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 2: And I think the vast majority of us think of 85 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:04,359 Speaker 2: it as an international irritant that we just wish was over. 86 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 2: And if we could come up with some way to 87 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 2: get Putin to just take what he wants and back 88 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 2: off and everybody quit fighting, it'll be just fine. That 89 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:16,239 Speaker 2: is exactly what people thought of Hitler back in this time, 90 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:19,920 Speaker 2: and the appeasement in this case. If we said, sure, 91 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,359 Speaker 2: putin keep Crimea and a little bit of land you 92 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 2: got from Ukraine, and can we just all call it nice? 93 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 2: While that sounds good, That's exactly what Chamberlain's approach to 94 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 2: Hitler was with Czechoslovakia. Give them this a little bit 95 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 2: of Czechoslovakia. He'll back off and that'll be the end 96 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 2: of it. Yeah. 97 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,479 Speaker 1: Just a few weeks back in October, I visited the 98 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: three Baltic states, so Latvia, Lithuitia and Estonia. 99 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 2: And beautiful by the way, Oh yeah, I love it there, 100 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 2: I do too. 101 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:52,679 Speaker 1: Yeah, wonderful. 102 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:55,160 Speaker 2: Did you go to Taland? Yes, I did, phenomenal. Did 103 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,039 Speaker 2: you go to old school Taland? The old I did 104 00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 2: city Taland with the cobblestones. 105 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: I did, and then poor Vu up over in near Helsinki. 106 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,720 Speaker 2: Stunning and the history there's phenomenal. 107 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, the ferry ride from Talent to Helsinki, Finland 108 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: was incredible. 109 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 2: To you, it is incredible. I've done that. Oh fantastics. 110 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 2: Actually I do business over there. Okay, So anyway, I digress. 111 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: You go ahead, and a few months excuse me, before that, 112 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: in May, I was in Moldova, former Soviet satellite, and 113 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 1: I can tell you that people in all those countries 114 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: strongly believe that if Putin gets away with what he's 115 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: doing in Ukraine, that they'll be next. They don't think 116 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: that he wants just Ukraine or a portion of it. 117 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: They think, no, this is this is the guy who 118 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,240 Speaker 1: will move on whatever he thinks he can take. So 119 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: there's a lot of concern over there for that. 120 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 2: Okay, so let's take that. That's two weeks ago. Yeah, 121 00:07:53,680 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 2: So let's go back to nineteen thirty nine. It was 122 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 2: really the same thing. The only difference was it was 123 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 2: Hitler with Czechlisfakia. Yeah, and because nobody wanted to waste 124 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 2: lives and riches and money on defending any of it, 125 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,560 Speaker 2: it was let's a peace. Hitler Yeah, let's give him 126 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 2: this little peace and then he'll stop. And that was 127 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 2: the hope. That's right. 128 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: And after that Munichue conference that gave in the Sudanan Land, 129 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: lots of people in Europe breathed a sigh of relief. 130 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: They thought, oh, we've dodged a bullet. 131 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 2: Everything's okay. Yeah, no war, no little did they know? 132 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 2: That's right. 133 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: Nicki wenton knew otherwise, but nonetheless he was going to 134 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: Switzerland for Christmas vacation when a friend of his, who 135 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:46,720 Speaker 1: worked in the British embassy in Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, 136 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 1: contacted him and said, NICKI, don't go to Switzerland. Come 137 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 1: here is something you have to see and I will 138 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: take you around well. And this is depicted in the 139 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: recent movie made about Nicki Winton, in which Anthony Hopkins 140 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: plays the lead role. Nicki agrees and he goes to 141 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: Prague and what his friend wants him to see are 142 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: the refugee camps at the onset of winter in and 143 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: around Prague, full of thousands of Jewish families who had 144 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,679 Speaker 1: escaped from the Sudanan Land, some from Germany itself, also 145 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: from Poland. They had no place to go. The world said, 146 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,160 Speaker 1: we don't have any problem. We signed an agreement. You're 147 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: not in any danger. But they knew otherwise. They knew 148 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 1: that Hitler was on the move and it would only 149 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: be a matter of time before they took the rest 150 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:36,280 Speaker 1: of Czechoslovakia and they would be in danger again. So 151 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: Nicki toured these camps and lo and behold of mothers 152 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 1: and fathers would come up to him. He's a perfect stranger. 153 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 1: They would come up to him and beg him to 154 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 1: take their children to safety, saying, we can't get out, 155 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: no government will let us come in, but can you 156 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: perhaps do something to take our children to safety. Nicki 157 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: could have said, well, I'm only one person. 158 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 2: Can you imagine the gut wrenching decision and the desperation 159 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 2: you just have as a parent to offer your child 160 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 2: to a stranger. 161 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: Perfect stranger. 162 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:17,480 Speaker 3: Yeah, how desperate must it have really been to walk 163 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,839 Speaker 3: up to a stranger and offer up your child in 164 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 3: hopes of saving their life because you know the impending doom. 165 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 2: That's about about to fall upon you. 166 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:28,240 Speaker 1: It's just unfathomable. 167 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:34,080 Speaker 2: It's for us to think that way through, to understand 168 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 2: the context of what this was. 169 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: Well, immediately Nicky sent letters and telegrams to governments all 170 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: over the world asking if I can get at least 171 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:47,079 Speaker 1: the children out, will you allow them into your country. 172 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: Guess how many countries responded in the affirmative I. 173 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:54,360 Speaker 2: Would say, I don't I read it. I remember it's 174 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:58,280 Speaker 2: very few, very few, including the United States said heck no, Yeah. 175 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 1: You got a letter from the White House saying sorry, thing, 176 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 1: we can do. Only two countries his own Britain and 177 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 1: Sweden said yes, we will let them come. But Britain, 178 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,680 Speaker 1: his own Britain, did put conditions on it. They said, well, 179 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 1: we think this is just going to blow over and 180 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 1: they're going to have to go back, and we don't 181 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: want to get stuck with the cost of that. So 182 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: you have to put on deposit with the Home Office 183 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:23,680 Speaker 1: the equivalent in today's money of about three thousand dollars 184 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: per child, and you have to find foster families who 185 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 1: agree to take them in. Well, Nicky knew that the 186 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:33,599 Speaker 1: clock was sticking. He had to act fast because he 187 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: thought it was only a matter of time before war 188 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:39,360 Speaker 1: would break out in the end. Over the first eight 189 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:45,319 Speaker 1: months of nineteen thirty nine, he organized nine rail transports 190 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: of children, did all the documentation found the foster families 191 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,319 Speaker 1: willing to take them in back in Britain, did all 192 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,479 Speaker 1: that legal work, raise the money to get them out, 193 00:11:55,679 --> 00:11:58,880 Speaker 1: even as Prague was occupied by the Germans in March 194 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:01,760 Speaker 1: of thirty nine, working to get the kids out under 195 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: the noses of the Nazi officials. The first eight of 196 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: those transports contained six hundred and sixty nine children, somewhere 197 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 1: as young as one year old. 198 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 2: Going to the UK and Sweden. 199 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, a few to Sweden. Overwhelmingly they went to foster 200 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 1: families in Great Britain. 201 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 2: How in the world do you wind up round up 202 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 2: seven hundred families since such short period of time that 203 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:27,960 Speaker 2: says I will take children I've never seen before. Unbelievable 204 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:30,480 Speaker 2: that in and of itself. I mean, I can't even 205 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:33,840 Speaker 2: imagine getting the trains put together, and probably a bunch 206 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:38,559 Speaker 2: of fake documents and working under you know, the kind 207 00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:41,600 Speaker 2: of cloak and dagger under the radar thing. I mean, 208 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 2: in some respects he's a British Harry Tubman. Incept. It 209 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 2: wasn't an underground railroad, it was actually a railroad. Yeah, 210 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 2: But the point is all of that, but to find 211 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,440 Speaker 2: that many families to say yes to he had to 212 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 2: have been a man possessed. Oh he was. 213 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:02,920 Speaker 1: He took pictures of all the children and used the 214 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 1: pictures to help encourage foster family, so they could look 215 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,400 Speaker 1: at pictures and say, well, I'll take a child of 216 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: say four, and I'd rather it be a boy. And 217 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: if I can look at a picture, I'm more likely 218 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:17,320 Speaker 1: to say I'll take that one. So he had to 219 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:22,360 Speaker 1: do that. He had a ninth transport organized. It was 220 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: to be the largest of all the ones that he arranged. 221 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 1: It had two hundred and fifty children. This is an 222 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:31,360 Speaker 1: addition to the six hundred and sixty nine who had 223 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,320 Speaker 1: first gotten out. The ninth transport had two hundred and 224 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: fifty ready to go foster families awaiting them in Britain. 225 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: On the first of September nineteen thirty nine, the day 226 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:46,400 Speaker 1: the Second World War broke out, the Nazis stopped all 227 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:50,040 Speaker 1: rail transports, took those kids off the train. Not a 228 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:52,840 Speaker 1: single one of those two hundred and fifty children survived. 229 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 1: That explains, and I can tell you from knowing him personally, 230 00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:01,440 Speaker 1: why he couldn't talk about this for fifty years. The 231 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:02,720 Speaker 1: story kind of died out. 232 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:05,560 Speaker 2: So it wasn't about the eleven trains that he saved. 233 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:07,439 Speaker 2: It was about the twelfth that he lost. That's right. 234 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 1: It was the two hundred and fifty he knew were 235 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:15,080 Speaker 1: ready to go and did not survive for fifty years. 236 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: The children who were saved grew up in these foster homes, 237 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 1: and the story had kind of died out and wasn't 238 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,400 Speaker 1: widely known how they got there, who was responsible for 239 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,880 Speaker 1: it until in nineteen eighty eight his wife. He didn't 240 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 1: even tell her this. He met her after the war. 241 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:36,240 Speaker 1: Soon as the war broke out, he joined the RAF 242 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 1: and fought in the Air Force for six years, then 243 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: met the woman who became his wife. Never even told 244 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 1: her what he had done. But in nineteen eighty eight 245 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 1: she was going through the attic and found a box 246 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: full of pictures of children, visa materials, documentation, a list 247 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: of names, and went Toyman, said, Nikki, what's this. Well, 248 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,240 Speaker 1: that's when he told her the story. The story got 249 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:06,240 Speaker 1: out verified. Queen Elizabeth knighted him. So he was Sir 250 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 1: Nicholas Winton. And you've got to see this bill on YouTube. 251 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 1: If you type in his name Nicholas Winton, you will 252 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 1: find a clip of the first time in a national 253 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: broadcast that his story became known again around Britain. They 254 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: called him to the studio, put him in the front row, 255 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 1: told him they were going to tell his story for 256 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: the first time in fifty years. Didn't tell him who 257 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: else was in the audience. But the hostess of the 258 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:41,960 Speaker 1: TV program shows some of the paraphernalia from that time, 259 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,840 Speaker 1: shows the list of children's names that was found in 260 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: his attic, tells the story, and then she says, if 261 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 1: by chance there might be someone in this audience today 262 00:15:55,560 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: who owes their life to Nicholas Winton, please stand. 263 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 2: Well. 264 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,040 Speaker 1: They had looked up those names, trying to find as 265 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 1: many of the children now in their fifties and sixties 266 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 1: as they could, and that's who comprised the audience, and 267 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: with Nicki seated in the front row, everybody stands. And 268 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 1: that was his first renewal of the connection with those kids, 269 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 1: and they were able to thank him in person. And 270 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 1: now we know that the numbers of people who survived 271 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: who lived because of Nicki wenton. That is the six 272 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty nine that he saved, some amount their 273 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 1: children and grandchildren. It's approaching seven thousand people who owe 274 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 1: their existence to this one man who could have walked 275 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: away but said I'm going to do everything I can. 276 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 2: Who could have walked away like everyone else before him 277 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 2: had yeah, all the way up to the Prime Minister 278 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 2: of the UK. 279 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,360 Speaker 1: Exactly right, exactly right. What an extraordinary man. Every time 280 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:01,800 Speaker 1: I visited Niki in his later years, in his nineties 281 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,000 Speaker 1: and after he turned one hundred, I would take groups 282 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,680 Speaker 1: of students from America and have them watch the documentary 283 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:12,439 Speaker 1: about him beforehand, And anytime one of the students in 284 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: his presence would say something like, oh, sir Nicholas, you're 285 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: such a hero, he would immediately say, oh, no, no, no, 286 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: don't call me that. I just did what I could. 287 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:25,440 Speaker 1: I mean, what a humble man. And this underscore is 288 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,439 Speaker 1: the fact that what he did that's saved so many lives, 289 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:32,080 Speaker 1: he did not for fame, not for fortune. He could 290 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: have written a book about it, probably a best seller, 291 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: you know, fifty years before the story became known. What 292 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:41,320 Speaker 1: he did he did quietly, and he did because of 293 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,160 Speaker 1: the good that it represented, because it helped and saved 294 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:49,920 Speaker 1: those children. Not for fame, not for fortune, not for himself, 295 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 1: but to save lives. 296 00:17:53,640 --> 00:18:05,920 Speaker 2: Nicholas went the humblest hero remarkable, remarkable, and thank you 297 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 2: for joining us on this special series of our ridiculously 298 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:17,199 Speaker 2: titled and Army of Normal Dead Folks. It's ridiculous. But 299 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:21,719 Speaker 2: if Nicholas Witten or other episodes have inspired you in general, 300 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,840 Speaker 2: or better yet, to take action by acting heroically in 301 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,639 Speaker 2: our time buying Larry Reid's book Real Heroes where the 302 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,960 Speaker 2: story came from, and I'm telling you, guys, buy the 303 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 2: book and read it. It's well worth it. Or if 304 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,919 Speaker 2: you have story ideas for the series, please let me know. 305 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 2: I'd love to hear about it. We'd love to keep 306 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 2: this ridiculously titled series going, but we need historians to 307 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:52,159 Speaker 2: tell us about Army of Normal dead folks and we'll 308 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,919 Speaker 2: do the research and highlight them. We think it's interesting stuff. 309 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:59,119 Speaker 2: So if you do that, write me anytime at Bill 310 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:01,879 Speaker 2: at normal Folks dot us and I promise you I 311 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 2: will respond and Alex will probably do the work and 312 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,680 Speaker 2: will end up doing a show. If you enjoyed this episode, 313 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:12,720 Speaker 2: share it with friends that on social subscribe to the podcast, 314 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 2: rate and review it, Join our Army at Normalfolks dot us, 315 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,840 Speaker 2: consider becoming a premium member there any and all of 316 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:26,159 Speaker 2: these things that will help us grow an army of 317 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 2: normal folks. Thanks for our producer, Iron Light Labs. I'm 318 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:37,200 Speaker 2: Bill Courtney. I'll see you next time.