Directions: Imagine that a classmate of yours has recently read a description of Nicolas Winton and has written a text reflection on how Nicolas Winton was an upstander. Read the text reflection below, and answer the questions that follow.
During the Holocaust, Nicholas Winton acted as an upstander because instead of standing by and watching children get shipped off to camps, he did something to take action and resist what was happening. Winton knew that if children entered the camps, they would suffer and they will die. He took initiative by starting his own organization that worked to transport children to safety. He used his own funding time and organization skills to start planning for the transport of children from Prague to London in 1939. The author states, “He made up an organization, calling it ‘The British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia, Children’s Section.’” He didn’t have to do this, as he had his own job and life. Making his vision of saving children a reality was not easy. It also wasn’t his profession. Despite these challenges, Nicholas Winton worked hard, and many children were saved by him. Many other people knew about the horrors of the Holocaust and yet did nothing, yet Nicholas Winton started his own organization and immediately set out to save lives. The author states that “[a]nxious parents, who gradually came to understand the danger they and their children were in, came to Winton and placed the future of their children into his hands.” He knew he needed to change the situation and make it better. By doing this work, he saved hundreds of children. He acted as an upstander and took the initiative to change the fate of as many children as possible.