Sir Nicholas Winton: Woman saved by Holocaust hero praises new film

A woman who escaped the Nazis thanks to Sir Nicholas Winton has praised a new film about how the famed philanthropist saved 669 children, hailing it as a "fitting" tribute.

One Life chronicles how Sir Nicholas brought the young, mostly Jewish refugees from German-occupied Czechoslovakia to the UK in 1939.

Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines, who now lives in Lancashire, was among them.

Then aged nine, she said Sir Nicholas's actions "should never be forgotten".

Sir Nicholas, who received a knighthood in 2003 for "services to humanity", died in 2015 aged 106.

Lady Milena and her three-year-old sister were put on board one of eight trains, dubbed Kindertransport, organised to help children escape the Holocaust and find foster families in the UK.

She was taken in by a family in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside.

Unlike many of the other children who escaped with her, her parents made it to safety to the UK, too.

Now living in Preston, she has watched the film four times and told BBC North West Tonight it was a "powerful educational tool".

The 94-year-old, who has spent the last decade going into schools to give talks, said the film was an "important document" and should be used as part of the national curriculum.

It was 50 years before she found out who she had to thank for saving her life thanks to BBC TV show That's Life.

Presenter Esther Rantzen reunited some of those saved by Sir Nicholas in an emotional show in 1988.

"What Sir Nicholas did should be part of the school curriculum. It should be available for the young people to see, because this must never be forgotten," she said.

"We were very lucky that we were on that train and that remained a mystery to me and my sister how we got on it and who organised it until Esther Rantzen found Nicholas Winton and found the man who saved our lives."

Lady Milena said the children considered him a hero but it was a term Sir Nicholas, who she later became good friends with, was very uncomfortable with.

She said he was an ordinary, altruistic man.

"Of course he was a hero to all of us but he never considered himself a hero," she said.

When Sir Nicholas was interviewed in 2014, a year before his death, he told the BBC: "There was nothing heroic about it. It was just a question of organisation and work."

She praised Sir Anthony Hopkins' remarkable portrayal of Sir Nicholas in One Life.

"Considering he never knew him it was amazing. His make up, movements, the way he speaks. It was like watching Nicholas Winton."

The humanitarian's son Nick Winton also lauded Sir Anthony's performance, saying it "sent a shiver up my back".

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.

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