• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

  • Home
  • Advertise
    • Advertise in One or All of our Magazines
    • Advertising Payment Form
  • Print Subscription
  • Digital Subscription
    • Subscribe
    • Subscriber Login
  • Contact Us

Barbara Winton

A Snow Day to Remember … with Distinguished author Barbara Winton

March 6, 2016 by The Inside Press

Barbara Winton enjoying the snow with the Saiontz boys.
Barbara Winton enjoying the snow with the Saiontz boys.

By Stacey Saiontz

During the blizzard, my family was snowed in with our very special house guest, Barbara Winton. Barbara Winton is the daughter of humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton and Author of the book about his life titled If it is not Impossible. Ms. Winton was in New York, as she was one of the speakers at the United Nations Annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony.

Winton and I had been in touch a few years prior. As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, I serve as the Co-Chair of the Museum of Jewish Heritage’s Annual Spring Ladies Luncheon. Each year we honor a female Holocaust Survivor. A couple years ago, the honoree, Hanna Slome, attributed her story of survival to being one of “Nicky’s children” and explained that she was saved from the Nazis by being put on the Kindertransport from Prague to England that was set up by Sir Nicholas Winton.

In 1938, Sir Nicholas Winton, a stock broker in London, England responded to a request from his friend Martin Blake to join him in Prague. Blake had gone to Prague to help the Jewish refugees who had fled to Prague after Germany annexed the Sudetenland.  After viewing the situation in Prague, Winton decided he needed to find a way to help the children. At the time, Kindertransports were helping children leave Germany and Austria to travel to safety in England. However, no one had set up a way to help the Czech children. Winton convinced the Home Office in England to agree to allow Czech children to be evacuated to England. The Home Office required a foster family to look after the children and a monetary amount to assist with repatriation at the end of the war.

Winton successfully organized eight trainloads of children, saving 669 children. The last train, the largest yet, was cancelled right before its departure as Germany invaded Poland resulting in the Czech border being closed. Unfortunately the majority of these children are thought to have died in concentration camps.

Although, Winton knew about her father’s work to save the Czech refugees, the mass public found out about his deeds in 1988, when a TV presenter in England discussed Winton’s rescue and announced on live TV that most of the audience in the studio were saved by Sir Nicholas Winton. It is estimated that there are approximately 6,000 people in this world who owe their existence to Sir Nicholas Winton.

While staying at our home, we organized a dinner honoring Ms. Winton. Three of her father’s “children” along with several Ambassadors joined us.  It was so moving to see the “children” interact with Ms. Winton.  Winton explained that while her father decided to organize the rescue mission because it was the right thing to do, he did not realize at the time the impact he would have on the childrens’ lives. It was not until meeting the “children” as adults that he realized how important his actions were on the “children’s” lives. May we all be inspired by the Sir Nicholas Wintons of the world to act ethically and try to make a difference in the lives of others.

Stacey Saiontz, a lawyer living in Chappaqua with her husband and two sons, is the co-chair of the Associates Board of the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust; a board member of the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation; and a member of the Next Generation Board of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. She is also a Committee member of the Chappaqua Cure in our Lifetime and serves on the Advocacy board of FARE, the Food Allergy non-profit.

Filed Under: Cover Stories Tagged With: Barbara Winton, Holocaust remembrance, honor, Inside Press, Sir Nicholas Winton, theinsidepress.com

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Holocaust Survivor Helga Luden Relates her Story of Escape, Rescue and Survival
  • Four Winters Shines a Light on the Bravery of World War II Survivors Among the 25,000 Jewish Partisans
  • $86K State Grant Awarded to 2023 Phoenix Festival Signals Growing Focus on Tourism
  • Scarsdale Music Festival Gearing Up for a June 3rd Event: Sponsorships, Performers and Vendors Sought
  • Governor Hochul Urges: SHOP SMALL to Help Small Businesses Which Make Up 98% of New York State’s Economy
  • Chappaqua’s Always Magical HOLIDAY STROLL on December 3rd: Ice Sculpting, Tree Lighting, Horace Greeley Encords… and More!

Please Visit

White Plains Hospital
Boys & Girls Club
Compass: Goldman and Herman
Compass: Generic
Desires by Mikolay
William Raveis – Chappaqua
William Raveis – Armonk
Dodd’s Wine Shop
Houlihan Lawrence – Armonk
Houlihan Lawrence – Chappaqua
Lumagica Enchanged Forest
Compass: Miller-Goldenberg Team
Compass: Natalia Wixom
Eye Designs of Armonk
Stacee Massoni
Club Fit
Beecher Flooks Funeral Home
Houlihan Lawrence: Harriet Libov
Houlihan: Kile Boga-Ibric
Compass: Aurora Banaszek
NYOMIS – Dr. Andrew Horowitz
Compass: David Braham
Sir Speedy Pleasantville
Houlihan Lawrence – Rusminka Rose Jakaj
Terra Tile & Marble

Follow our Social Media

The Inside Press

Our Latest Issues

For a full reading of our current edition, or to obtain a copy or subscription, please contact us.

Inside Chappaqua Inside Armonk Inside Pleasantville

Join Our Mailing List


Search Inside Press

Links

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Subscription
  • Print Subscription

Footer

Support The Inside Press

Advertising

Print Subscription

Digital Subscription

Categories

Archives

Subscribe

Did you know you can subscribe anytime to our print editions?

Voluntary subscriptions are most welcome, if you've moved outside the area, or a subscription is a great present idea for an elderly parent, for a neighbor who is moving or for your graduating high school student or any college student who may enjoy keeping up with hometown stories.

Subscribe Today

Copyright © 2023 The Inside Press, Inc. · Log in