Nicky's Family

I didn't know what to expect from this movie. After viewing so many Holocaust related films over the years, the themes seem to melt into one another. In my searches, I've learned about the name and location of the camps, the names of the most terrible people, and the sociology of a nation that surprisingly contracted, almost overnight, a deep mental illness that it did not wish to free itself from. That illness was hate.

This movie, however, after the first half of it, kept me in tears. I am a man who finds it extremely difficult to cry, except on occasions when I watch a touching movie or read a heartfelt book. Without those avenues, I am unable to shed a tear. But this film was so completely able to bring out of me tears by witnessing the impact the good deeds of one man can cause through a kind of domino effect.

Nicholas Winton, still alive today at 105, is a man worthy of all the honors bestowed on him. He is a hero of the highest caliber due to his unflinching commitment to save the lives of 700 Czech children during the advance of the Third Reich into Czechoslovakia in 1938.

What he did was provide for these children English families to adopt them. Tirelessly he worked to sometimes forge papers in order to save children he barely knew, all out of an altruistic character not often seen in stock brokers, which he was prior to making a visit with a friend to inspect for himself what Hitler was causing within Czechoslovakia. That visit changed his life forever, for the good of hundreds of Czech children.

Nicky wrote hundreds of letters seeking aid from all countries, and fashioned pictorial listings of all the kids for selection by their future parents, but only one country was willing to open their hearts to these desperate children, England.

Because of his work, Nicky now has a "family" of some 5800 offspring from the grown children he arranged to secure passage to a new life in England. The kindness of the English people shown to these children makes me extremely proud of British countrymen and women. It was stated on the film, that the poorest of English people were the most compassionate and loving.

Watch the documentary, but be sure to have Kleenex sitting by you as you will, without a doubt, be very moved.

Nicky's Family (2011) is a Slovak/Czech documentary. It was co-written and directed by Matej Minac.

The film describes the incredible feats of Sir Nicholas George Winston, dubbed "The English Schindler." Sir Nicholas quietly--and effectively--was able to bring 669 children out of Czechoslovakia and into England after the Germans had occupied their country.

That's a remarkable story, well presented with some simulated scenes, some photos, and interviews with some of the people who were rescued.

The other remarkable part of the story is that no one knew what Sir Nicholas had accomplished until 1988--almost 50 years after the event took place. People only found out about his heroic work when his wife happened upon a scrapbook he had kept.

It's fascinating that, once war started and no children could be rescued, Sir Nicholas put the whole enterprise behind him. He didn't identify himself to the children he had saved. He didn't even tell his wife. This may not be totally accurate. He had mentioned what he had done when he ran for local office. (From Wikipedia.) However, the scrapbook and the BBC are what gave him international recognition.

Director Minac made a decision about the last part of the film with which I don't completely agree. He shows us that many people have been inspired to do charity work because of Winston's example. My thought is that this feel-good part of the documentary doesn't answer the questions I have about the man himself. Why didn't he follow up his work and stay connected with the children he had saved? What happened in his life between the end of the rescue operation and public fame in 1988? And, most importantly, why did he do what he did in 1938-39? Sir Winston died in 2015. We almost certainly will never know the answer to the last question.

We saw this film on the small screen, where it worked very well. It's a fascinating story, and the movie is definitely worth seeking out and watching.

I think I cried through most of the movie. Extremely touching story. A must see.

This was a truly wonderful documentary.

It is related in a narrative style, where we go back and forth between modern times and 1939 to tell the amazing story of what one man did to save a large group of children from the Nazis.

That man is Nicholas George Winton. During the 1930's, he was a successful stockbroker living in London. He certainly looked like one, all dressed up and wearing his big glasses! In the winter of 1938, he was planning a skiing trip in Switzerland. His plans were changed by a last-minute phone call from a friend in Prague, Czechoslovakia. There was a serious problem there, since Nazi Germany had recently annexed part of the country (Sudetenland), and it looked like they were going after more.

Nicholas met with terrified and hungry refugees that had been displaced by the Nazis. They were desperate to leave. As we all know from the tragic history, no nations were willing to take them in. Even the United States kept its doors firmly shut.

What could anyone do to help these refugees? Nicholas found a way to save at least some of the children, by getting them adopted. This took an enormous amount of effort filling out lengthy paperwork, and of course money - 50 pounds per child. He founded an organization that placed these Czech children into British homes. It was heart-breaking for the Czech families to say goodbye to their children at the train station, but as the political situation steadily got worse, they knew it was the right thing.

In 1939, over 660 children were officially adopted into new homes. The flow of children stopped abruptly on September 1st, 1939, which is when the war officially started.

During the war, Nicholas enlisted in the Royal Air Force and flew missions into Europe. Afterwards, he returned to his business, got married, and started a family.

It was nearly 50 years later that his wife discovered a dusty suitcase in the attic of their house, showing all the documents and photos of the children. Nicholas, as humble as anyone could be, had never mentioned it to her. His wife thought it would be great to reach out and see how the children (now well into middle age) had fared, and she reached out to them.

We learn that many of them grew up to become successful citizens. Some remained in Britain, and others emigrated. They had never known who had been responsible for getting them out of Czechoslovakia, and were quite eager to meet and thank Nicholas Winton for his great deed.

In one excerpt from a live television show, we see people introduce themselves to Nicholas, now well into his 80's. He is moved to tears, and humble as always, says very little to them.

Not surprisingly, we learn the fate of the Czech parents who had to give their children away: they were sent to the death camps. The children that Nicholas was unable to save also perished there.

All of this shows what one man was able to do. People were so inspired by him that some organizations are now trying to do the same. As Nicholas Winton celebrated his 100th birthday, he then met with some different organizations that want to help people all over the world.

One of the best documentaries I've ever seen. Well made.Everyone needs to watch it. It has the life lessons...