SKU: 1411829 The Light That Shines Forever
Description
The shadow of war was spreading across Europe. Hitler’s armies had marched into the borderlands of Czechoslovakia, forcing Jewish families, among others, to flee their homes and seek refuge in any location that would accept them.
When Nicholas Winton, the son of Jewish-German immigrants, traveled from London to Czechoslovakia to help the refugee families huddled in tents in sprawling encampments, an ingenious plan began to formulate in his head. By special waiver, children could leave the country without their parents, as long as host families abroad took them in. As word of his plan spread, parents lined the hallways and staircases of Winton’s hotel, begging for help. If Nicholas could get their children out of the country safely, the families would find a way to join them. Three weeks later, when Winton returned to London, he carried with him the names and photographs of hundreds of children—even babies—entrusted to him by their parents.
With the assistance of his mother and a growing circle of helpers, Winton began recruiting host families, raising funds, and securing visas. For nine months, he arranged for children to travel by train and ferry to England. Then war was declared, and the Czech border closed.
Fifty years later, Nicholas’s wife, Grete, discovered a long-forgotten scrapbook in their attic containing the names and documentation of 669 children. It was the only record of her husband’s remarkable rescue efforts. What followed was a series of equally remarkable events that allowed this heroic story to be told and for millions to learn the fate of these rescued children, all on live television.
The Light That Shines Forever is a beautifully illustrated picture book, with primary source documents and photographs, that brings to life a remarkable wartime rescue. Its lesson and message invite readers to ask the questions: What light will we bring to others? What stories will fill the scrapbooks of our lives?
David T. Warner is the author of eleven books and numerous film, television, and live presentations, including commemorative and holiday programs aired on PBS stations since 1993. A frequent collaborator with Mack Wilberg, music director of The Tabernacle Choir, Warner’s texts have been published by Oxford University Press for over two decades and include “O Light of Life,†“Let Peace Then Still the Strife,†and The Prodigal. In addition to his responsibilities as a director of film and television, theater, opera, and international concerts, Warner often oversees the design elements of his productions, providing renderings that inspire and guide collaboration among his fellow team members. The illustrations in this book offer readers a look at the visual sensibilities that have been expressed in Warner’s work for decades, including the annual Christmas concerts of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.