RIP Sir Nicholas Winton, Britain's Schindler

[Colin_Fraser]

Sir Nicholas passed today. Check out this famous short video if you haven't seen it already. One of my favourite CBC news personalities (Joe Schlesinger) survived the Holocaust as a result of Winton.

 

[kenshin393]

True hero.

 

[Helm]

Truly a great man

 

[Graham]

You have to hope that you would do the same in those circumstances but I have to admit I would not have the courage of such magnificent human beings.

 

[Colin_Fraser]

You have to hope that you would do the same in those circumstances but I have to admit I would not have the courage of such magnificent human beings.

Very few did. A lot followed Hitler happily, a lot just kept their heads down and prayed for it to be over, and a very few tried to resist in various ways. They were the extraordinary ones.

 

[Martin64]

Very few did. A lot followed Hitler happily, a lot just kept their heads down and prayed for it to be over, and a very few tried to resist in various ways. They were the extraordinary ones.

The term "few" is naturally a matter of perspektive, if you check about the number of executions between 1933 - 1945 in Germany you might be surprised. The total number is still not researched but just at one execution site - Berlin-Ploetzensee - during this period about 3000 people were executed - many of them regular German citzens that critized the regime, supported victims of the regime, told soldiers not to go to war for Hitler etc. These actions were already sufficient to face capital punishment.
The more we should respect people like Sir Winton and Schindler that took these risks but there are numerous others that paid the ultimate price and are forgotten.
Cheers, Martin

List of people executed (among them regular criminals) - unfortunately in German but you get an idea of the numbers:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_von_im_Deutschen_Reich_hingerichteten_Personen

 

[Colin_Fraser]

By very few I meant % Martin, not absolute numbers. There were many Germans executed and many more in KZs before the Holocaust even got going.

 

[Huw63]

Truly a noble courageous man.

 

[Blind Pew]

You have to hope that you would do the same in those circumstances but I have to admit I would not have the courage of such magnificent human beings.

Well put, but in reality you don't really know what you'd do. As you say, I can only hope I'd do as well.

A hero in the truest sense of the word.