briancolligan:

luckyshirt:

In 1938, Nicholas Winton helped 669 Jewish kids escape certain death from the Nazis. He never told anyone that he did this.

While on ski trip in Switzerland, Winton took a detour in Czechoslovakia to help the children of refugees. Nazi Germany had recently annexed a large part of Czechoslovakia and the news of Kristallnacht, a violent attack on Jews in Germany and Austria, had just reached Prague. 

Winton set up a rescue operation for the children, filling out the required paperwork for them to be sent to homes in Sweden and Great Britain. He had to raise money to fund foster homes for all of them, and then he sent 669 children away from Czechoslovakia on trains before the Nazis closed down the borders. 

Winton told no one that he did this, not even his wife. In 1988, his wife found a scrapbook full of pictures of the children and letters from parents in their attic. She arranged to have Winton’s story appear in newspapers. 

Many of the children Winton saved went on the BBC television program, That’s Life, to meet him for the first time since the war. They refer to themselves as “Winton’s children”. 

Winton is now 101 years old and has received awards from Israel and the Czech Republic as well as Knighthood from the Queen of England in 1993.

(via Gives Me Hope)

Whenever you flip on the news and see the talking heads screaming at each other …

Whenever someone talking on a cell phone cuts you off in traffic …

Whenever people are mean, rude, racist, prejudiced or ignorant …

Whenever you find yourself shaking your head at the depths people can reach …

… just remember that there are people out there who are possess a seemingly infinite capacity for their compassion, their concern and their humanity.

Then use that reassurance as inspiration as you strive to emulate them.

If you don’t tear up watching this, then I question your humanity.

campaignforvt:

Have you seen the Virginia Tech orientation leaders do the “whirlybird” dance at Squires in the morning? If you haven’t, here’s a sneak peak courtesy of the video production crew over in the media building. A more complete video is in the works, but until then, get your “whirlybird” on!

Also, your last chance to see them do the dance live is tomorrow, Thursday, July 22, around 10 a.m. Don’t miss it!