Nicholas Winton, a British man who for half a century hid his vital role in saving the lives of hundreds during the Holocaust, has passed away at 106.

In 1988, Winton’s wife found a scrapbook in the attic of their home that detailed his work during the Holocaust to save the lives of 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia.  He took the children who were given up by the parents in a desperate attempt to save their lives from the Nazis.

Winton was a stockbroker in 1938 when a friend asked him to cancel a Swiss vacation and come to Prague.  He discovered thousands living in horrific conditions after the infamous Kristallnacht.

While many Western nations restricted the immigration of Jews during that time.  Britain, however, had an exception through a program called Kindertransport where a Jewish child under 17 could come to the country if they had a host family.  While mass rescue efforts were carried out in Germany and Austria, there was no campaign for Czechoslovakia.

Winton ran an operation out of a Prague hotel room.  Eventually so many came for help that Winton had to open a storefront and even bribe Gestapo officials to look the other way as he transported the children to safety.

Eventually, Winton and his compatriots transported the children on nine trains.  However, the last train was captured by the Germans before it could cross the German border and none of the 250 children on board were seen again.

Winton actually thought of discarding his scrapbook with details of the historic operation.

“I did not think for one moment that they would be of interest to anyone so long after it happened,” Mr. Winton recalled later.

“Winton still shakes his head in bewilderment and disbelief when compared with Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg,” author Vera Gissing wrote. “I try to make him realize that his contribution to the human race is immeasurable.”