I was one of 669 children saved from Nazis by Sir Nicholas Winton – now I’m working on film depicting moment we met him
A WOMAN who was one of 669 children saved from the Nazis by Sir Nicholas Winton has worked on a film depicting his heroic life.
Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines MBE, 94, was just nine when she was forced to flee Czechoslovakia in 1939 after Nazi invasion.
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Her father had to escape the day before the Nazis invaded because he was both Jewish and on the “Gestapo list”.
But Lady Milena herself was rescued by none other than Sir Nicholas Winton on a special train that left Prague days before Hitler annexed the country.
Sir Nicholas had arranged for them all to be cared for by families in Britain, on what became known as the kindertransport — or “children’s transport” in German.
It wasn’t until nearly 50 years later, after broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen heard about his endeavours, that modest Nicholas finally realised how life-changing his efforts had been.
In 1988 she arranged for him to sit in the front row of the audience for an episode of her BBC1 show That’s Life!.
Lady Milena took part in the unforgettable moment on Esther Rantzen’s show where holocaust survivors stood up to thank Nicholas.
Her younger sister Eva Paddock, who was three at the time, said that the Brit hero “became everybody’s grandfather” thanks to his bravery.
And the tearful moment has since been immortalised in a new movie, One Life.
War survivor Lady Milena consulted on the film and recalled her memories of arriving in England as a child fleeing from war.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun she said: “My memory, which I have very little is my diary, my autograph book.
“I never really realised the presence of Nazis in Czechoslovakia, I was only nine years old when I was put on that train.
“I can’t physically remember everything, I mean, I’m, you know, I’m 94 and this has happened 80 odd years ago.”
In the film, Sir Anthony Hopkins plays the older version of Sir Nicholas, who died in 2015 aged 106, while Johnny Flynn plays the younger, wartime version.
Lady Milena says that her first sighting of the film was a “private view” with just the family.
She said: “Anthony Hopkins was very nice and it was incredible.
“He never met him but he captured the movement, the voice of Sir Nick.
“There were one or two sentences in the film which were absolutely Nicky.”
Milena added: “In this story it shows just the children from the camps being saved.
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“But Nick saved other children, 200,000 refugees sitting around Prague with nowhere to get out.”
Lady Milena continued: “I was picked up at Liverpool Street Station, brought to Ashton underline.
“I was then sent away to a Czech refugee boarding school, married and went to France.”
Some 40 years later she received a phone call from Esther inviting her to London to help surprise Sir Nicholas.
Lady Milena continued: “And I was so taken back because I had honestly forgotten about my past.
“At that time, you know, the holocaust wasn’t spoken about, we didn’t really know about the camps.”
When she was reunited with Sir Nicholas, Milena showed him the pass that she was given to come to England
She told him “I am another of the children you saved”.
Milena continued: “Since that moment, every day he had a phone call, a visitor, an invitation.
“He didn’t want the publicity, it wasn’t a secret.
“His children knew what he had done but he never talked about it.”
Milena has watched the film multiple times and said it is an “important document” and should be used as part of the national curriculum.
Brave Nicholas was knighted by the Queen in 2003 for services to humanity.
Who was Sir Nicholas Winton?
In 1938 Nicholas had been a carefree 29-year-old stockbroker heading for a skiing holiday in Switzerland when a friend asked for his help.
They told him how the lives of Jewish families were in danger in Czechoslovakia following its partial annexation by Hitler.
Kindertransports were being arranged by various organisations in Germany, Austria and Poland.
The British Government had offered to let in Jewish children if homes had been found for them.
But there was no coordinated effort to rescue those in Czechoslovakia.
So Nicholas, whose parents were German-born Jews, set to work.
His mother Barbara helped him to find prospective homes in Britain, while Nicholas dealt with the delicate politics of moving Jewish children through Nazi Germany.
For nine months he coordinated the effort with volunteers, who helped to get the children on to seven trains.
Nicholas was certainly not the only British person to go above and beyond to evacuate the vulnerable.
Altogether nearly 10,000 Jewish children made it out on trains organised by various organisations.
In September 2009 the 70th anniversary of the Czech children’s evacuation was commemorated by sending kindertransport survivors and their descendants on a steam train from Prague to London.
The then 100-year-old Nicholas was there to greet them at Liverpool Street station.
But he remained a reluctant hero. Only after his death in 2015 was the Nicholas Winton Memorial Trust set up to document his work which is run by family members.
Lady Milena was given her title when her late husband George, a renowned architect, was knighted in 1978.
She was awarded the freedom of Preston in 2015 for being a “wonderful ambassador” and an “inspiration” following decades of charity work.
She also organised exchange visits for students and has taken groups to music festivals in the Czech Republic.
Lady Grenfell-Baines is also an active member of The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR).
The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) is the leading national charity exclusively delivering social welfare to Jewish victims of Nazi oppression and the largest funder of Holocaust educational programmes in the UK.
For more information and to enrol visit here.
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