By 1938, Europe had been experiencing an increased number of attacks on Jews. With no end in sight, Jewish refugee  agencies requested the British government to allow them to bring in only Jewish children under17 years of age. This was to be only temporary, until the situation in their home countries was improved. Kindertransport, meaning "children transport" in German, was then born. Children from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and other Nazi-occupied regions were transported to the United Kingdom. There they were either placed with other families or in hostels. Later, it was found that many of these children were the only survivors of their families. Nicholas Winton was among those people who helped to save Jewish children. He managed to rescue 669 children from Czechoslovakia and bring them safely to England. In 1938 around Christmas, 29-year-old Nicky was about to leave for a skiing holiday. Suddenly, Martin Blake, one of his good friends, contacted  him from Czechoslovakia, asking him to travel there to help political refugees on the run from the Nazis. And Nicholas agreed. Nicky spent his entire holiday of 3 weeks in the capital city of Prague where he saw the situation first-hand. Once back in England, he immediately started organizing the evacuation  of children from the Czech region. From advertising for the necessary permits, Nicky worked tirelessly. By August 1939, 669 children had been helped by Nicky and his friends. _ , the last group of children due to leave Prague in the beginning of September could not do so-- World War II broke out, and swallowed them up. Nicky did not discuss his particular task with his wife, Grete. It was only when she found a scrapbook in 1988, with names of the rescued children, their (lost) parents and the foster families that had taken them in, that his heroism came to light. Nicky has received several awards in Britain and the Czech Republic. Kindertransport aimed to  _  .
help the homeless transfer the affected stop German attacks save Jewish children