Humanitarian. Responsible for the rescue of 669 mostly Jewish children via the so-called "Kindertransport" from the Nazis before World War II. He was dubbed by the English press as "Britain's Schindler", a title which he hated. He was born Chaim Wertheimer into a German-Jewish family in London that later converted to Christianity. A stockbroker by trade, he was about to take a skiing holiday at Christmas, when he was invited to come to Prague to help a friend working with refugees. He then single-handedly set up his own organization to help Jewish children in Czechoslovakia endangered by the Nazis. With his mother, they arranged for a number of children to be transported by train from Prague through Holland to England and arranged for homes for those children. Sadly, the last train with 250 children scheduled to leave Prague on September 1, 1939, was stopped by the outbreak of WW II, but 669 children were saved before that, many now prominent in British life. He first registered as a conscientious objector, but then joined the RAF, rising to the rank for Flight Lieutenant. After the war, he worked first for the International Refugee Organization and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, before settling down to raise a family. He was first honored by the Crown in 1983 as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his work in establishing the Abbeyfield homes for the elderly in Britain and was knighted in 2002 for his Kindertransport work. On his 105 birthday he was honored with the Czech Order of the White Lion, the Czech Republic's highest honor. A statue in his honor stands at the main railway station in Prague, and he is the subject of a number of documentaries and one play.
Humanitarian. Responsible for the rescue of 669 mostly Jewish children via the so-called "Kindertransport" from the Nazis before World War II. He was dubbed by the English press as "Britain's Schindler", a title which he hated. He was born Chaim Wertheimer into a German-Jewish family in London that later converted to Christianity. A stockbroker by trade, he was about to take a skiing holiday at Christmas, when he was invited to come to Prague to help a friend working with refugees. He then single-handedly set up his own organization to help Jewish children in Czechoslovakia endangered by the Nazis. With his mother, they arranged for a number of children to be transported by train from Prague through Holland to England and arranged for homes for those children. Sadly, the last train with 250 children scheduled to leave Prague on September 1, 1939, was stopped by the outbreak of WW II, but 669 children were saved before that, many now prominent in British life. He first registered as a conscientious objector, but then joined the RAF, rising to the rank for Flight Lieutenant. After the war, he worked first for the International Refugee Organization and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, before settling down to raise a family. He was first honored by the Crown in 1983 as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his work in establishing the Abbeyfield homes for the elderly in Britain and was knighted in 2002 for his Kindertransport work. On his 105 birthday he was honored with the Czech Order of the White Lion, the Czech Republic's highest honor. A statue in his honor stands at the main railway station in Prague, and he is the subject of a number of documentaries and one play.
Bio by: Kenneth Gilbert
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