Esther Rantzen's That's Life! Revealed Nicholas Winton's Holocaust Rescue to Millions

Dame Esther Rantzen, who passed away at the age of 86, is celebrated for her establishment of Childline and The Silver Line. However, it was her 1988 episode of That's Life! that highlighted Nicholas Winton's remarkable effort in rescuing 669 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Winton, whose parents were German-Jewish, traveled to Prague in 1939, organizing transports after a House of Commons decision permitted young refugees to enter Britain. He secured funding, identified sponsors and hostels, and utilized Picture Post to showcase children's photographs. His contributions remained largely unknown for nearly five decades until his wife discovered a scrapbook in their attic, prompting Holocaust researchers to locate survivors. On That's Life!, Rantzen astonished Winton by reuniting him with Vera Gissing and Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines, two of the children he saved. In the next episode, she invited all his survivors to stand, creating an iconic moment in British television history. Winton was honored with a knighthood in 2003 and passed away in 2015 at the age of 106. The biopic One Life, featuring Anthony Hopkins, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and is set for release in the UK in January 2024. Rantzen noted that approximately 6,000 individuals owe their lives to Winton.