As much as I see it as my obligation to educate, expose and call to action all those who oppose anti-Semitism, I occasionally feel depleted of the words to use to describe how far the world has gone in its attempt at demonizing Israel and the Jewish people.
That is usually when the Lord in its infinite kindness, directs me to some article where man’s kindness is demonstrated. Just in time for me to regain a little hope in mankind. Stories like the following keep me going in my task to tell all about the hatred of my people, because once in a while, against the flow of humanity’s hatred for Israel, someone comes and extends a hand of compassion.
British subject Nicholas Winton was such a man in the summer of 1939 when he just about single handedly rescued 669 Jewish children for most certain destruction in Auschwitz and other camps.
His story as reported in HaAretz is a beautiful and simple story of compassion and love for mankind. As a matter of fact, as it appears, he never even told his wife about his heroic endeavour until 50 years later when she found records of the event in their attic.
Winton considered the rescue project so natural that he never bothered to mention it, even to his wife Grete. His activity came to light only 50 years later, when she was looking for something in the attic of their home and found an old suitcase with a scrapbook from the war years that included a list of the 669 rescued children.
Ture heroism often goes unnoticed. Sir Nicholas Winton (knighted by the Queen in 2002) will be 100 this year. The article goes on to wonder if he will be the next recipient of the Nobel Prize.
I have long lost my respect for the Nobel Prize Organization since they handed the Nobel Peace Prize to Yasser Arafat in 1994. My prayer is that they would redeem themselves and make Sir Nicholas Winton the next laureate, recognizing a decent man who did good…simply for goodness sake!
