In 1938, Nicholas Winton orchestrated the saving of over 600 Czechoslovakian children’s lives.

Good Views: The Power of Good

Posted January 27, 2011

As a passionate moviegoer and movie blog critic, Regions associate Bret Pippen shares his take on good films.

WE OFTEN DISCUSS AND DEBATE the human capacity for evil. But what about the human capacity for good? Along the similar vein as the discussion regarding our capacity for evil, the same questions could be asked about what motivates us to do good: What makes one person choose to do good where others might just go on their way?

In 1938, Nicholas Winton was a 29-year-old British businessman traveling through Czechoslovakia. After visiting there, he realized, along with most Czechs, that Hitler’s rise to power and his desire to grow Nazism in Czechoslovakia were dangerous. Many Jewish families had already been banished to the streets, oppressed and persecuted. This included many children, who were living as refugees in their own homes.

In true business fashion, Winton saw a problem and developed a solution.

Pulling together a small group of volunteers, Winton developed a process for getting the children out of Czechoslovakia and into the only two countries that would take them – Great Britain and Sweden.

From March to August 1939, Winton managed to shuttle 669 children from Czechoslovakia into England where they were to live with foster families. World War II started on Sept. 1, 1939, which effectively ended the program. Winton went back to England, joined the RAF, and all was forgotten. That is until 1988 when Winton’s wife happened to be poking around the attic and came across a scrapbook that told the entire story.

When she asked Winton about it, he said it was just a small part of his life, and he had forgotten all about it. Soon the story was major news all over the world, and it became clear that this one man’s act of kindness saved the lives of 669 Jewish children and, as a result, their more than 5,000 descendants.

The Power of Good is a 2002 documentary that tells Winton’s story. It is a good 62-minute film tightly directed by Mitaj Minac and narrated by Joe Schlesinger (a rescued child) that will leave you inspired and asking the question: Would I have done what Winton did?

It is impossible to not get angry watching how world leaders turned a blind eye to Hitler’s plans, but it is equally impossible not to be overwhelmed by joy when watching the interviews of the rescued children and the eventual reunion of them with Winton.

As of this writing, Winton continues to live in England at the age of 101. The film is not available for rent but is available for purchase. In a similar vein, I would highly recommend the documentary Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000), which tells the sweeping story of how more than 10,000 Jewish children were sent by their parents into England to escape the rise of Nazism.

Everyone has a story.