Esther Rantzen's TV Show Uncovered Hero Who Saved 669 Children From Nazis

Dame Esther Rantzen, the celebrated television presenter who died this week at the age of 86, is remembered for her extensive charitable work and advocacy. However, one of her most impactful career moments involved bringing to light the extraordinary story of Nicholas Winton, a British stockbroker who saved hundreds of children from the Holocaust.

In 1987, Winton's wife, Grete, discovered a scrapbook in their attic containing the names and photographs of children Winton had helped rescue from Nazi-occupied Prague. At just 29 years old, Winton had orchestrated the escape of 669 children, primarily Jewish, from Czechoslovakia to Britain via train. He had secured sponsorship and homes for them, aided by a law enacted in the wake of Kristallnacht.

Dame Esther featured Winton's story on her BBC consumer affairs program, "That's Life," in February 1988. The show, known for its mix of lighthearted segments and serious investigative journalism, facilitated a remarkable reunion between Winton and many of the children he had saved.

During the program, Winton was seated in the audience when he was told a woman next to him, Vera Gissen, was trying to identify him. Gissen, who as an 11-year-old named Vera Diamant had been on one of the Kindertransport trains, turned to Winton, embraced him, and thanked him for saving her life. The presenter then revealed that two more children Winton had rescued were also in the audience. Winton, visibly moved, was seen dabbing his eyes.

This broadcast led to Winton being widely recognized as a national hero, with the media dubbing him "Britain's own Schindler." The recognition came decades after his selfless actions, as he had kept his efforts largely secret, even from his wife, until the scrapbook's discovery.

In a subsequent "That's Life" appearance in July 1988, Dame Esther revealed that around two dozen people in the studio audience stood up when asked if they owed their lives to Nicholas Winton. The full extent of his efforts, part of the Kindertransport operation that rescued approximately 10,000 children from across Nazi-occupied Europe, was finally revealed.

Despite his life-saving work, Winton remained humble and was reportedly haunted by the final train, scheduled to depart on September 1, 1939, which was canceled by the Nazis, preventing 250 children from escaping. He believed he had "not saved enough," a sentiment Dame Esther later attributed to the trauma of that unfulfilled final train.

Sir Nicholas Winton, who was knighted in 2003, passed away in 2015 at the age of 106. His legacy continues through statues in Prague and Maidenhead, the Czech Republic's Order of the White Lion, and the 2023 critically acclaimed biopic "One Life," which dramatized his story and the "That's Life" reunions.