Nicholas Winton was not alone: rescuers 1938–1939

As the result of the Munich Agreement of 30 September 1938 the German-speaking areas of Czechoslovakia were annexed to Nazi Germany. Many social democrats and communists from these areas who had taken a stand against the Nazis had no choice but to flee to the Czech interior. Together with many Jews and Czechs, they mostly fled to Prague. They were all aware that they would not be safe in Prague for long. They suspected that sooner or later Hitler would subsume the rest of the Czechoslovak state into German territory, which for them represented a threat to their lives.

British volunteer Doreen Warriner was the main person in charge of the efforts to obtain visas for the Sudeten German refugees. From her office in Slezská street she organised their onward journeys. On 15 March 1939, however, German troops arrived in Prague and some days later Doreen Warriner’s office, set up by the Sudeten German social democratic party DSAP, was searched by the Gestapo and its contents confiscated, including refugees’ passports.

As a result of the Munich agreement, many Sudeten German opponents of Nazism, social democrats and communists, Czechs and Jews fled from the border areas of Czechoslovakia into the safe interior of the country, above all to Prague. However, it was clear to the Sudeten German social democrats that the Nazis would sooner or later reach Prague, too. With the help of British volunteers, they organised emigration to safe target countries. These included Sweden, Britain (from whence emigrés later continued to Canada), Norway, and Belgium.

As a result of the Munich agreement, many Sudeten German opponents of Nazism, social democrats and communists, Czechs and Jews fled from the border areas of Czechoslovakia into the safe interior of the country, above all to Prague. However, it was clear to the Sudeten German social democrats that the Nazis would sooner or later reach Prague, too. With the help of British volunteers, they organised emigration to safe target countries. These included Sweden, Britain (from whence emigrés later continued to Canada), Norway, and Belgium.

Marie Schmolka was born in 1893 into a Prague Jewish family. In 1924 she went to Palestine and became a Zionist. After the Nazis took power in Germany in 1933 Schmolka helped German Jews, antifascists and other opponents of Nazism. In 1936 she became the chairwoman of the umbrella organisation for all the Czechoslovak organisations helping refugees. In the same year she took part in the unsuccessful refugee conference in Évian. It was at her request that British volunteers came to Czechoslovakia in order to help refugees; they included Nicholas Winton and Doreen Warriner. After the Wehrmacht entered Prague on 15 March 1939 Schmolka, a committed Social Democrat, was arrested. She was released from custody a few months later, whereupon she left for Paris, and then, following the outbreak of war, to London. She died of a heart attack in March 1940.

With the occupation of the Sudetenland by the Nazis in 1938 many Jews, social democrats and communists were forced to flee into the interior of the Czech lands. When the refugee situation in Prague and its surroundings grew critical, the Quakers came to the aid of the refugees to ease their suffering and help them in their further escape via the Gdansk corridor to the west. Two of them, cousins Tessa and Jean Rowntree, were present from the start, and helped to organise transports by arranging formalities and drawing up lists for the British Embassy, for example. They were also involved in making sure refugees in need were taken care of. The role of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in helping the refugees is practically unknown in today’s Czech society. In recent years, a Quaker center has been reestablished in Prague, and regular meetings for worship are held there. 

As a result of the Munich agreement, many Sudeten German opponents of Nazism, social democrats and communists, Czechs and Jews fled from the border areas of Czechoslovakia into the safe interior of the country, above all to Prague. However, it was clear to the Sudeten German social democrats that the Nazis would sooner or later reach Prague, too. With the help of British volunteers, they organised emigration to safe target countries. These included Sweden, Britain (from whence emigrés later continued to Canada), Norway, and Belgium.