Daughter of 'British Schindler' who saved hundreds of Czech children, dies age 68

Prague/London, Sept 20 (ČTK) - Barbara Winton, daughter of Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved hundreds of Czechoslovak Jewish children at the dawn of World War II, died in Britain following a lengthy illness at the age of 68 today, the Czechs News Agency reports.

Barbara Winton visited the Czech Republic several times and wrote a book, which was translated into Czech, describing her father's life story. She, too, was an advocate for refugees throughout her life, lecturing at secondary schools, Czech ones among them, and regularly attending the Forum 2000 conference for world politicians and thought leaders held annually in Prague.

Winton's son, Laurence, said she died this morning surrounded by her family. She felt it unjust that she was abandoning the world so early. Still, she left an indelible impact by helping people with via therapy for 30 years, traveling the world, and demanding that people and governments do more for refugees, her son added.

Barbara Winton was born on October 23, 1954. After secondary school, she studied homeopathy at the London College of Homeopathy. Later she devoted herself to alternative therapy and healthy living. She lived with her family in Herefordshire.

Winton devoted a large part of her life to her father whom she accompanied on his trips abroad, mainly to the Czech Republic. She actively attended events in remembrance of her father's heroic act, and helped him maintain contact with the "Winton children."

As a young banker, Nicholas Winton, organized the departures of Jewish children from Czechoslovakia to Britain by train at the onset of World War II. He secured all necessary documents for their journey and arranged their stay with British families. Winton is credited with saving 700 children from certain death in Nazi concentration camps.

After the war, Winton worked as a broker and did not speak publicly about his heroic act. People became acquainted with his story largely due in part to a moving reunion with the saved "children" broadcast by the BBC in 1988, almost half a century after he saved them. Sir Nicholas Winton, dubbed "the British Schindler" died in 2015 at the age of 106.