“英国辛德勒”去世，曾营救669名犹太儿童

Nicholas Winton Is Dead at 106; Saved Children From the Holocaust
“英国辛德勒”去世，曾营救669名犹太儿童

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, a righteous deed like those of Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg, died on Wednesday in Maidenhead, England. He was 106.

尼古拉斯・温顿(Nicholas Winton)周三于英国梅登黑德市去世，享年106岁。这位英国人曾经在二战前组织营救行动，让多数为犹太人的669名儿童逃离捷克斯洛伐克，此项义举可与奥斯卡‧辛德勒(Oskar Schindler)与劳尔‧瓦伦堡(Raoul Wallenberg)所为并列，但长达半世纪以来，他对自己的善举缄口不言。

The Rotary Club of Maidenhead, of which Winton was a former president, announced his death on its website. He lived in Maidenhead, west of London.

梅登黑德扶轮社在网站上公布了他的死讯，他曾在该社任社长。梅登黑德位于伦敦以西，是温顿先生生前生活的地方。

It was only after Winton's wife found a scrapbook in the attic of their home at Maidenhead, in 1988 ― a dusty record of names, pictures and documents detailing a story of redemption from the Holocaust ― that he spoke of his all-but-forgotten work in the deliverance of children who, like the parents who gave them up to save their lives, were destined for Nazi concentration camps and extermination.

在他的妻子1998年从他们位于梅登黑德的家中阁楼里找到一本剪贴簿以前，他对自己几乎被遗忘的义举闭口不谈。这本剪贴簿详细记录了一个如何从纳粹的屠刀下救人性命的故事，上面记载着许多人名、照片与相关文件。那些注定被送进纳粹集中营灭绝的父母将孩子交付于他，希望他解救这些孩子的性命。

Winton was a London stockbroker in December 1938 when, on an impulse, he canceled a Swiss skiing vacation and flew to Prague at the behest of a friend who was aiding refugees in the Sudetenland, the western region of Czechoslovakia that had just been annexed by Germany.

温顿在1938年是伦敦的一位股票经纪人，满怀热血的他在当年十二月取消了前往瑞士滑雪的假期，在朋友的请求下飞往布拉格。这位朋友正协助捷克斯洛伐克西部苏台德地区的难民，从这个已被德国吞并的地区撤离。

“Don't bother to bring your skis,” the friend, Martin Blake, advised in a phone call.

“滑雪板就不必带了，”这位名为马丁‧布雷克(Martin Blake)的朋友在电话中建议他。

Winton found vast camps of refugees living in appalling conditions. War looked inevitable, and escape, especially for children, seemed hopeless, given the restrictions against Jewish immigration in the West.

温顿发现许多生活条件恶劣的难民营。战争看来无以避免，而在西方社会限制犹太人移民的情况下，逃难更是无望，儿童也无从逃脱。

Britain, however, was an exception. In late 1938, it began a program, called Kindertransport, to admit unaccompanied Jewish children up to age 17 if they had a host family.

然而英国是个例外。在1938年年底，该国发动一个名叫“儿童救援”(Kindertransport)的计划，让十七岁以下未能依亲的犹太儿童，得以在寻得寄养家庭的情况下获得英国政府的入境许可。

But there was no comparable mass-rescue effort in Czechoslovakia. Winton created one.

但当时的捷克斯洛伐克没有类似的大规模救援行动。温顿自己开创了一个。

It involved dangers, bribes, forgery, secret contacts with the Gestapo, nine railroad trains, an avalanche of paperwork and a lot of money. Nazi agents started following him. In his Prague hotel room, he met terrified parents desperate to get their children to safety, although it meant surrendering them to strangers in a foreign land.

这场行动包含了危险、贿赂、伪造文书、与盖士太保秘会、九列火车、大量手续与金钱。纳粹特工开始跟踪他。在布拉格的旅馆房间里，他与恐慌不已的家长见面，他们不顾一切要将孩子送往安全的地方，哪怕是交给异国他乡的陌生人。

He and a few volunteers, including his mother, had photos of the children printed and appealed for funds and foster homes in newspaper ads and church and synagogue bulletins.

温顿与少数志愿者（包括他的母亲）在报纸广告、教堂与犹太会堂的公布栏上，刊登孩童的照片，并征求募款与寄养家庭。

Hundreds of families volunteered to take children, and money trickled in from donors ― not enough to cover all the costs, but Winton made up the difference himself.

数百个家庭志愿接收这些孩童，也渐渐有了捐款。虽然捐款不足以负担所有支出，但温顿用自己的钱填补了缺口。

On March 14, 1939, it all came together. Hours before Hitler dismembered the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia as a German “Protectorate,” the first 20 children left Prague on a train. Winton and his colleagues later arranged for eight more trains to get the rest of the children out. He and the host families met the children in London. Each refugee had a small bag and wore a name tag.

一切在1939年3月14日就绪。在希特勒宣布将捷克的波希米亚省与摩拉维亚省纳入德国“保护区”数小时以前，20名孩童搭乘火车离开布拉格。温顿与他的伙伴安排了又安排了八列火车来救出所有孩童。他和寄养家庭在伦敦与孩童会面。每个难民儿童都带着小袋子，并戴上名牌。

But only seven of the eight trains made it through, bringing the total rescued to 669. About 250 children, the largest group, were on board the last train out, on Sept. 1, 1939. On that day, however, Hitler invaded Poland, all borders controlled by Germany were closed and Winton's rescue efforts came to an end.

但剩下八列火车中，只有七列成功离开，总共带着669名孩童逃离。有多达250名孩童，原本搭上了1939年9月1日的最后一班列车。但就在当天，希特勒入侵波兰，德国控制地区的所有边境都被关闭，温顿的救援行动也无力回天。

“Within hours of the announcement, the train disappeared,” he recalled. “None of the 250 children aboard was ever seen again.” All were believed to have perished in concentration camps.

“宣战数小时后，那班列车就消失了。”他回忆道。“车上250个孩子，全都再也没见到。”据信这些孩子都丧命于集中营。

Nicholas George Wertheim was born in London on May 19, 1909, one of three children of Rudolf and Barbara Wertheimer Wertheim. His parents were of German-Jewish origin but converted to Christianity and changed the family name to Winton. For 50 years he said nothing of the children's rescue, not even to his wife, Grete Gjelstrup, a Dane he had married in 1948. They had three children, Nicholas, Barbara and Robin. Robin died at age 7 in 1962. Winton's wife died in 1999. The Rotary Club of Maidenhead said his daughter Barbara and two grandchildren were at his side at his death, but complete information on his survivors was not immediately available.

本名尼古拉斯・乔治・韦特海姆(Nicholas George Wertheim)的温顿生于1909年5月19日，是鲁道夫・韦特海米尔・韦特海姆(Rudolf Wertheimer Wertheim)与妻子芭芭拉的三个孩子之一。他的父母是德国犹太人，但皈依了基督教并改姓温顿。五十年来他未曾提过有关儿童救援的事情，甚至1948年结婚的丹麦妻子葛蕾特‧吉耶斯托普(Grete Gjelstruop)都未得只字片语。他们育有三个孩子，分别是尼古拉斯、芭芭拉与罗宾。罗宾在1962年年仅七岁时夭折，温顿的妻子则在1999年去世。梅登黑德扶轮社表示，温顿去世时，有女儿芭芭拉与两位孙子陪伴，但暂时无法对他身后留下哪些家人有完整的了解。