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An Introduction to Twice-Rescued Child
Nearly 80 years after the Second World War the horror and sorrow still grips our hearts. There are countless stories of the families torn apart, yet so many individual lives, individual stories, are lost in the pages of time. Twice-Rescued Child follows the real-life story of Thomas Graumann, who at 8 years old excitedly boarded a train in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to embark on what he believed was a three-month holiday.
In this introduction from the book we learn about Nicholas Winton, the hero who saved 669 children (Thomas was one of the last, #652), transporting them from Czechoslovakia to the UK to save their lives.
More than six million Jews were systematically annihilated in the Holocaust. It’s a number that is hard for us to wrap our minds around. Nearly 80 years after the Second World War, horror and sorrow grip our hearts. We have heard stories of families torn apart, mass graves, and ash from the chimneys that fell like snow. Yet so many individual lives, individual stories, are lost in the pages of time.
Of the six million Jewish people killed during the war, 1.2 million were Jewish children. Little ones who ran barefoot through summer grass, laughed, and played during school recess, and snuggled next to fathers and mothers, listening to stories. At the start of the war, as Hitler’s troops invaded country after country, few guessed the heartache to come. Even fewer guessed what was in store for the children. Yet some did, and a few stepped forward to help.
For 669 children, one man’s foresight and quick action made all the difference. Nicholas Winton—subsequently Sir Nicholas Winton—an English stockbroker, heard about the plight of Czech children trapped behind the border and in need of sponsors and transportation to the UK. Preparing for a ski trip, he instead traveled to Prague at the request of a friend. Once there, Nicholas recognized the advancing danger. At the time, Hitler’s troops had already occupied the Sudetenland, and the German leader had his sights set on all of Czechoslovakia. What would happen to the Jewish children caught up in Hitler’s grasp? Stories and rumors were already leaking out concerning the treatment of Jews in Germany and annexed Austria. Discovering children in need of rescue, Nicholas Winton took quick action. Boys and girls condemned to die found life, found families, and some also found saving grace along the way. Today, there are more than 5,000 descendants of these rescued children around the world. This is one child’s—one man’s—story.
Aged eight, Thomas Graumann excitedly boarded a train in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to embark on what he believed was a three-month holiday. “Go to Britain, learn English, and when the Germans leave, you can come home again,” his mother assured him. Thomas carried two suitcases and a bag of food. At the time he knew his country had been taken over by the Germans and now was under Nazi control.
That was the last he would see of his mother and most of his Jewish family, who died in concentration camps. He had also never heard of Nicholas Winton, the hero who saved 669 children (Thomas was one of the last, #652), transporting them from Czechoslovakia to the UK to save their lives.
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