Sir Nicholas Winton, a Briton who said nothing for a half-century about his role in organizing the escape of 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II, died on Wednesday in Maidenhead, England. He was 106.

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The Surviving Winton Children Commemorate Their War Time Evacuation
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Winton, born Nicholas Wertheim, found homes for the children and arranged for their safe passage to Britain. In 2003 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for Services to Humanity for this work, and in 2014, he was awarded the highest honour of the Czech Republic, the Order of the White Lion, by Czech president, Miloš Zeman.

Winton died on the morning of 1 July 2015 at Wexham Hospital in Slough from a respiratory failure, with his daughter Barbara and two grandchildren at his bedside. He was 106 years old. His death came 76 years to the day after 241 of the children he saved left Prague on a train.

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