Earlier this week, at Maidenhead Railway Station, the statue of Sir Nicholas Winton was illuminated to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

The statue was illuminated by 669 candles. Each candle was to represent a child that he helped rescue on the eve of World War Two from Prague.

He arranged the safe passage of the children, mostly Jewish, and found home for them in the UK.

The operation became known as the Czech Kindertransport, and Lord Alf Dubs was just six when he boarded and came to the UK. He went on to become an MP.

Lord Alf Dubs, left, with Sir Nicholas Winton in 2014 // Credit: The Labour Party.

Sir Nicholas was knighted by the Queen in 2003 for ‘services to humanity, in saving Jewish children from Nazi Germany occupied Czechoslovakia’ and was awarded the Order of the White Lion (1st class), the highest honour of the Czech Republic. Sir Nicholas was 106 when he passed away in 2015

GWR Business Assurance Director Joe Graham said: “The theme of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day is ‘Be the Light in the Darkness’, so we thought illuminating Sir Nicholas’ statue would be a poignant way of paying respect to a man to whom so many owe their lives.”

“Sir Nicholas sadly passed away in 2015, but his statue at Maidenhead Station provides a permanent reminder of his heroic deeds in providing hope and shelter to those 669 children.”

Lord Dubs said: “What better way to mark Holocaust Memorial Day than to celebrate Nicky Winton, the man who saved my life and the lives of 668 other children who were brought to safety in the UK on the Kindertransport from Prague in the summer of 1939.

“Thank you GWR – I think it’s a really important thing to be doing and it will be much appreciated by many people.”

Holocaust Memorial Day Trust’s Head of Communications Asel Guillot said: “As we mark Holocaust Memorial Day from the safety of our homes this year, we reflect on the depths humanity can sink to, but also the ways individuals and communities resisted that darkness to ‘be the light’ before, during and after genocide – just like Sir Nicholas did in his time.”

“HMD is for everyone. By learning from genocide, we can all build a better future, we can all be the light in the darkness.”

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