(JTA) — Sir Nicholas Winton, who is known as the “British Oskar Schindler,” will receive the Czech Republic’s highest civilian honor.
Winton, 105, is scheduled to receive the Order of the White Lion from Czech President Milos Zeman on Oct. 28 in Prague. It was first believed that he was too ill to travel, the Daily Mirror reported.
In a mission known as the Czech Kindertransport, Winton saved 669 Czechoslovak children from the Nazis while serving as a British diplomat. The saved children have more than 5,000 descendants.
Winton has been honored by the Czech Republic on several occasions, including receiving its highest military decoration in 2007. He was knighted in Britain.
His parents were German Jews but Winton was raised as a Christian.
Schindler was a German industrialist who saved hundreds of Jews from the Holocaust. His story was told in Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-winning film “Schindler’s List.”
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