Dame Esther Rantzen's commitment to charitable causes is something she will forever be remembered for. Along with founding Childline, a helpline for children, and The Silver Line, which supports older people struggling with loneliness, she also created a broadcasting legacy during her time on That's Life! She presented the hugely popular BBC One show from 1973 to 1994, helping transform it from a consumer rights programme to an issues-based series, drawing in huge audiences.
One of her most memorable career moments came during one particular episode in 1988 - the footage of which has gone viral several times over in recent years. Dame Esther had been told the story of Nicholas Winton, the man who had organised the rescue of 669 children from Czechoslovakia, which was occupied in 1939 by Nazi forces. Sir Nicholas was able to rescue the mainly Jewish cohort of children after briefly visiting Prague.
He was knighted in 2003 for his humanitarian work. Sir Nicholas, who was born to German-Jewish parents, made a list of the children that needed sponsorship and found homes for them to go to in Britain. He worked alongside activists and humanitarians , externalin Czechoslovakia to navigate complex political obstacles, such as getting children to Britain through the Netherlands, which had closed its borders to Jewish refugees.
Sir Nicholas was ultimately successful due to a House of Commons ruling on allowing young refugees in the country, which had been passed a couple of months before his rescue mission began. With the help of his mother, he put photos of the children in British magazines such as Picture Post to help find them homes and organised for hostels to take in some refugees too. He managed to raise money to cover travel for the children and provide them with essentials when they reached British soil.
His incredible work went largely unreported for nearly 50 years - until his wife found a scrapbook in their loft, which contained names of children he had rescued. It was given to Holocaust researchers, who helped track down some of the children he had helped. Sir Nicholas' story became national news when he appeared on That's Life! in February 1988 and Dame Esther Rantzen told viewers about his story.
Speaking in February 2024, Dame Esther said when she first got in touch with Sir Nicholas, who she called Nicky, she "congratulated him on his extraordinary achievement". She told The Radio Times, external he had expressed some disappointment about his efforts, commenting that "not enough" people had been saved. "I was devastated that he felt he had failed.
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