(audience clapping) (triumphant music) - [Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome international star of stage, screen, and television, Sir David Suchet.

(audience clapping) - Thank you all so very much.

And a very good evening to you.

What a pleasure and privilege it is for me to be with you this evening.

And together, with this extraordinary choir, and amazingly talented orchestra.

(audience clapping) This evening, we come together to share a true story from over 80 years ago.

It takes place near a region connected with my own heritage, the former Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth.

And it's also about people who were Jewish, like many of my own ancestors, devoted to their faith, and deeply dedicated to their families.

During this period, they lived in a land occupied by a foreign power.

Well, not unlike the Holy Family, so long ago.

Indeed, it's a familiar scene in the world today, suggesting that this is a story for our time.

(gentle music) ♪ Once in royal David's city ♪ ♪ Stood a lowly cattle shed ♪ ♪ There a mother laid her baby ♪ ♪ In a manger for His bed ♪ ♪ Mary was that mother mild ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ her little child ♪ In the final months of 1938, the shadow of war was spreading across Europe.

Hitler's armies had marched into the borderlands of Czechoslovakia, forcing Jewish families, among others, to flee their homes and seek refuge inland.

As the light of Hanukkah and Christmas drew near, so did the darkness of ethnic cleansing.

Meanwhile, 800 miles away, in London, a 29 year old English stockbroker, Nicholas Winton, was preparing for a ski vacation in Switzerland.

But just days before his departure, a friend called from Prague.

"Nicky," he said, "forget the skis.

You need to see what's happening here."

Nicky, the son of Jewish German immigrants, had a background in international banking and was fluent in German and French.

Long interested in world politics, he was naturally curious, and immediately changed his plans.

Nicky arrived in the Czech capital on New Year's Eve.

And there, in the throes of winter, he found sprawling encampments of refugee families, mostly Jewish, huddled in tents and makeshift huts.

At best, they were trapped.

Visas for adults were nearly impossible to obtain, much less for entire families.

Some wanted to escape and others were determined to stay.

But most agreed that something had to be done to safeguard their children, now, before it was too late.

Well, Nicky turned this problem over in his mind.

Well, if it's not impossible, he thought, then there must be a way to do it.

Working with other organizations a plan emerged.

By special waiver, children could leave the country without their parents as long as host families abroad took them in.

Well, as word spread of the plan, parents lined the hallways and staircases of Nicky's hotel, begging for their little ones to be included.

If they could get their children out of the country they would find a way to follow them.

Three weeks later, when Nicky's holiday vacation came to an end, he carried home the names and photographs of literally hundreds of children, entrusted to him by their parents.

Back in London, Nicky worked at the stock exchange by day, and coordinated the rescue by night.

To expedite the effort he, well, he borrowed stationary from the British Refugee Committee, adding the words children's and section.

And calling a meeting of one to appoint himself honorary secretary.

Using that title, he wrote to various governments for help.

Several declined, but the British Home Office agreed, as long as Nicky provided a 50 pound guarantee for each child.

Now that's the equivalent today of over 4,000 American dollars per child.

With the assistance of his mother, and a growing circle of helpers, Nicky threw himself into recruiting host families, raising funds, and securing visas.

For nine months, the work continued.

And for nine months, children traveled by train and ferry to England.

Among the most moving images of Nicky's service are parents on the train platforms of Prague Wilson Station.

Hiding their grief, they took their children in their arms, assured them of an exciting adventure ahead, and promised to be reunited soon.

Through that spring and summer of 1939, as train whistles blew and steam filled the skies, parents waved goodbye, pleading for the strength that only God could provide.

(soft music) (choir singing in Hebrew) All too soon, war was declared, and the Czech border closed.

At final count, 669 children had been rescued.

With few exceptions, their families perished, never to be seen again.

The only record of the rescue was a scrapbook made by one of Nicky's team members.

The book's pages were brimming with lists of children, immigration passes, diplomatic correspondence, and so on.

But Nicky was not focused on the past, he was thinking about the future.

So, the scrapbook went into the attic.

And Nicky moved on with his life.

He married, had three children, worked in local business and government affairs, organized assistance for the disabled and elderly, and went about doing good wherever a need was found.

For some 50 years, Nicky rarely spoke of his rescue work.

And when he did, well, it was only in passing.

And that brings us here, to a setting like this one.

In the months before Nicky's 80th birthday, his wife Grete found herself in the attic sorting papers.

And there, in a worn leather case, she discovered the scrapbook.

Well, needless to say, she was astonished.

Who were these children, she wondered.

And why didn't she know about them?

"Well, it happened so long ago," Nicky explained.

"Quite frankly, I haven't given the episode much thought since."

As they talked, they agreed that the book and the history in it had to be preserved.

And with the help of a well-known Holocaust expert the story began to come to light.

But eventually, the BBC invited Nicky to appear on a television program called That's Life.

And what happened next was a total surprise, even to Nicky himself.

- Back here, you will see, is the list of all the children and the foster families who took them in.

This is Vera Diamant, when she was 10.

Now she's Vera Gissing.

She had no idea that Nicholas Winton had in fact arranged her rescue.

But we did find her name, Vera Diamant, who she was then, on his list.

Vera Gissing is with us here tonight.

Hello, Vera.

And I should tell you that you are actually sitting next to Nicholas Winton.

- Hello.

(audience laughing) (audience clapping) Thank you.

- One more story for you.

Melina Fleischmann.

Melina, I believe you still have the name tag you wore around your neck when you arrived as a little girl at Liverpool.

- Yes I have.

I wore this around my neck.

And this is the actual pass that we were given to come to England.

And I'm another of the children that you saved.

(audience clapping) - [Host] Can I ask, is there anyone in our audience tonight who owes their life to Nicholas Winton?

If so, could you stand up, please?

(gentle music) - In his last years, Nicky was continually surrounded by his honorary children and grandchildren, all grateful to finally understand the story of their lives.

And though Nicky was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, and often referred to as the British Schindler, he rejected adulation.

"I am not a hero," he insisted.

"I just did what needed to be done."

When Nicky died at the age of 106, most of the original children had still not been found.

But the known posterity of his rescued family numbered over 6,000.

In time, Nicky's scrapbook was placed in Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem.

And in that setting, his wartime service shines, as it should, in memory of the parents and families who sacrificed to save their children.

Nicky was once asked, "Why did you keep the scrapbook a secret?"

"I didn't keep it a secret," he said, "I just didn't talk about it."

Well, perhaps that's because Nicky knew he had more good to do in his life, more than could be contained in any book.

For gifts of goodness are truly endless.

As we are blessed, we bless others.

And the giving goes on.

During that last winter before the war, Jewish parents in Czechoslovakia were not able to celebrate Hanukah in all the customary ways.

But they knew that in the Hanukah menorah the single center candle lights all the others.

The light of God's goodness in just one person can bring light to many, now and for generations to come.

This season, what endless light will we bring to others?

What stories will fill the scrapbooks of our lives?

For some, it'll be helping refugees in war torn lands.

For others, it'll be visiting a lonely neighbor, or even lifting up a downcast friend.

But whatever we do, the spark of our tiny effort can fill this world with light, and write a story of hope and peace that never ends.

And in that spirit, as the choir sings a final newly written verse of the carol Once in Royal David's City, we invite you to sing along.

And if this year you wish to dedicate yourself to sharing God's light through service to others, turn on the light of your phone, lift it up high, and let it be the symbol of His light and life shining through you to all the world.

(uplifting music) ♪ Light of God grown bright within us ♪ ♪ Let Thy love in us increase ♪ ♪ Shine through us in all our service ♪ ♪ Lift us up in joy and peace ♪ ♪ Lead us in Thy path we pray ♪ ♪ Make us one this holy day ♪ ♪ One in hope, one in love ♪ ♪ One in Him this holy day ♪ (uplifting music) ♪ Holy day ♪ (audience clapping) Thank you, thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

My goodness, thank you so much.

But, we're not finished yet.

(audience laughing) Because, this evening, we have the most wonderful surprise.

We are absolutely delighted to have with us the son of Nicholas Winton.

(audience clapping) So please join me in welcoming his namesake, Mr. Nick Winton!

(audience clapping) - Amazing.

(audience clapping) - Nick, thank you so much for being here.

And, well, I don't have to say, a huge welcome from everyone.

Nick, you are, are you not, the last of your father's three children still alive?

- Yes, sadly, sadly, that's true.

My brother died quite young.

Sorry, I'm still very overcome by the evening.

My sister died quite recently.

But I should also say there are many thousands all over the world who are alive because of the rescue that my father did.

Many of them considered him to be their father, or their grandfather, or even their great-grandfather, because he was their only living connection with their past.

The rest of their family had perished.

- Remarkable, absolutely remarkable.

Could you tell us what you have found to be most helpful about your father's experience, for you personally?

- Well, I guess the most valuable lesson I've learned is that each one of us changes the world every single day.

Sounds kind of grandiose, but it may just be in small ways, like helping someone with their groceries, or even just a smile when they need something.

And of course, we also make life worse by not doing something that's needed.

But my father, he believed in what he called active goodness.

That is to be a good person we should actively do things to help others, rather than be passive, simply avoiding doing anything bad.

And he spent most of his very long life helping to make the world a better place, and loved doing it.

And that, to me, is the essence of the Christmas spirit.

- Nicky, we're so grateful to you for coming here.

And we wish you, your family and all those that you love, a very blessed and truly joyful Christmas.

- Thank you.

(audience clapping) ♪ One in love, one in light ♪ ♪ One in Him this blessed holy day ♪ ♪ Holy day ♪