Nicky & Vera

By Peter Sis,

Book cover of Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued

Book description

In 1938, twenty-nine-year-old Nicholas Winton saved the lives of almost 700 children trapped in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia-a story he never told and that remained unknown until an unforgettable TV appearance in the 1980s reunited him with some of the children he saved.

Czech-American artist, MacArthur Fellow and Andersen Award winner Peter…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Nicky & Vera as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

During World War Two, an Englishman named Nicholas Winton anonymously saved the lives of 669 Jewish children living in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia by arranging visas and finding foster homes for each one.

The book tells the story through the experience of Vera, one of the children saved by Mr. Winton. While he never told anyone about his actions, years later, his wife found the records and arranged a surprise meeting between Nicholas and dozens of the children, now middle-aged adults, whose lives he saved. I was brought to tears reading it, not just the first time, but when I re-read it…

In 1938, a young Englishman named Nicholas Winton canceled his ski vacation. Instead, he went to Prague to help the Jewish children seeking refuge there from the Nazis. Up until the start of the war in 1939, he made arrangements to send nearly 700 children to safety in England. He did everything from raising funds and locating foster families, to obtaining travel documents—even forging them when necessary. Then he went home and never told anyone what he had done. Fifty years later, his wife found all the records he’d kept and she tracked down as many of those children as…

From Karen's list on courage during the holocaust.

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