“Today’s (Sunday) meeting is a memorial to Sir Nicholas Winton. The statue was damaged for a long time, it had torn characteristic round glasses. I arrived at the first platform here in January, and when I noticed that they were damaged, I decided to make a change, “said Schreiber.
The event was originally scheduled to take place on May 19 on Winton’s late 111th birthday, but was postponed due to coronavirus.
The vandals didn’t wear their glasses for the first time
According to Schreiber, the characteristic glasses have been lost a total of three times since the unveiling of the statue eleven years ago, the last time it was missing about five years. “As part of the reconstruction of the platform, a camera is placed here so that the vandals can no longer afford such things,” Schreiber said.
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He added that from the beginning he was prepared to pay for the glasses himself. “The time is such that any ordinary citizen like me can move some things somewhere. I have decided that as long as I live, Sir Nicholas will have his glasses, “he added.
The event also included the author and owner of the sculpture, the contemporary sculptor Flora Kent, originally from Venezuela, who now lives in London. “She will also discuss with the people from the Railway Administration what the future of the statue will be,” Schreiber added.
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The ceremonial unveiling of the sculpture also includes a cultural program, during which Hana Frejková, Josef Gušlbauer and a choir of children from Ústí nad Labem will perform thematic music and poetry. Invited guests will be able to watch a film about the meritorious deed of Nicholas Winton, entitled The Power of Humanity.
A bronze sculpture of Nicholas Winton rescuing Jewish children was first unveiled on the first platform of Central Station in September 2009. It took place on the occasion of the departure of the so-called Winton train, which took hundreds of predominantly Jewish children to Britain before World War II. A total of 669 of them came to safety.
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British broker and humanitarian Nicholas Winton was born on May 19, 1909, and died on July 1, 2015. In 1998, he was received at Prague Castle by the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel, and awarded him the Order of TG Masaryk. In 2002, the British queen promoted him to aristocratic status in his native Britain.
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