One Life: Anthony Hopkins as Nicholas Winton
Released on February 21, 2024, after having achieved great success in England, the film A life worn by Anthony Hopkins is a biopic dedicated to the man nicknamed “the English Schindler”, Sir Nicholas Winton.
This nickname was given to him because of his heroic actions during World War II, which saved hundreds of Jewish children from Nazi death camps.
In 1938, while leading a relatively ordinary life as a broker on the London Stock Exchange, his fate changed. Instead of going on a skiing holiday in Switzerland, goes to Pragueat the request of his friend Martin Blake, to help him in his humanitarian activities.
In Prague there was Sir Nicholas Winton confronted with the difficult situation of Jewish refugees and was particularly touched by the plight of the children. He then mounted an operation to evacuate them to Britain, taking advantage of a British government policy that allowed the acceptance of child refugees under certain conditions.
With the help of volunteers and her mother, she organized eight rail transports (and one flight) who helped save 669 Czechoslovakian Jewish children from probable death in Nazi extermination camps. The ninth train, the busiest, never managed to leave Prague and the 250 children on board all disappeared.
Real images in motion
For more than fifty years, the story of Sir Nicholas Winton remained secret, as he did not tell it to anyone around him. It wasn’t until 1988 that his wife found him again in their attic a document containing the names and photos of these rescued children.
After this incredible discovery, his wife turned to historian Elisabeth Meynard-Maxwell, Holocaust specialist and wife of the British press magnate Robert Maxwell. It was thanks to the latter that the heroic deeds of Sir Nicholas Winton were made public.
In 1988, the latter appeared in the BBC program This is life. Little did he know that in the audience were some of the children he had saved. You can discover this touching moment, which closes the film with Anthony Hopkins, below:
After his actions were made public, Sir Nicholas Winton received numerous honors, including a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 2003. It is estimated that there are around 5,000 descendants of the children he saved living around the world.
Sir Nicholas Winton died on 1 July 2015 aged 106.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
