Troublesome Sainthood: Nicholas Winton and the Contested History of Child Rescue in Prague, 1938–1940

Abstract

Between late 1938 and August 1939, eight children’s transports left Prague, bringing 669 children to Great Britain to escape the Holocaust. This rescue mission has been increasingly discussed on both popular and scholarly platforms in recent years. The commemoration of Sir Nicholas Winton, who has been credited with single-handedly organizing this rescue, has been promoted by the now-adult children themselves and enthusiastically supported by the British and Czech governments, even though this operation was not, in fact, led by Winton alone but was part of a much larger voluntary sector project to support refugees fleeing fascism. This article outlines the intricate and, at times, fraught organization of the child migration and questions the historical implications of venerating humanitarian actors.