Sir Nicholas Winton’s commemorative ring • Sir Nicholas Winton Archive

This ring, from the Sir Nicholas Winton Archive, was presented to Sir Nicholas Winton by Czech and Slovak Kinder at a reunion in June 1988.  Engraved with the words “Save one life, save the world,” it commemorates the lives Sir Nicholas saved.

Nicholas Winton was born on 19 May 1909 and died on 1st July 2015 aged 106. In the 9 months leading up to the outbreak of World War II, 669 children, mostly Jewish, were transported from Czechoslovakia to Britain and other countries. This was due almost entirely to the foresight and energy of a small group of people of whom 29-year old stockbroker, Nicky Winton was the organiser. You can read more about him here. This action saved the lives of these children, since most of their families and contemporaries who remained in Czechoslovakia perished. The details of this monumental action remained little known for many years, until 1988 when it featured on That’s Life, a BBC TV programme hosted by Esther Rantzen. In 2003 Sir Nicholas was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for Services to Humanity.

Sir Nicholas is a true treasure. He is pictured here with his daughter Barbara, who wrote his biography, entitled IF IT’S NOT IMPOSSIBLE, after Sir Nicholas’s personal motto: “If something is not impossible, then there must be a way to do it”.

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