Twice Rescued Child (Memior)

Rescued Not Once — But Twice

Aged eight, Thomas Graumann excitedly boarded a train in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to embark on what he believed was a three-month holiday. “Go to Britain, learn English, and when the Germans leave, you can come home again,” his mother assured him. Thomas carried two suitcases and a bag of food — but he did not know he was boarding one of Nicholas Winton's Kindertransport trains, or that it was the last time he would ever see his mother and most of his Jewish family, who died in concentration camps.

Thomas was child #652 — one of the last of the 669 children Winton rescued from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia and brought to safety in the United Kingdom. That was his first rescue. His second came a year later, when an evangelist from the Scottish village where he had been taken shared the good news of Jesus Christ with him. Saying a prayer on bent knee, Thomas' soul was rescued, and he soon dedicated himself to missionary service, which he fulfilled as an adult in the Philippines and later in the United States.

After the fall of Communism — and the return of his grandmother's property to his family — Thomas was finally free to return to the Czech Republic, traveling throughout his homeland to speak in schools about how he was rescued … not once, but twice.

What you will find in this inspiring memoir:

• A gripping firsthand account of a child's escape aboard the Kindertransport
• The story of Nicholas Winton's quiet heroism that saved 669 children
• Thomas's heartfelt journey to faith and his second rescue by Christ
• Inspiring stories of missionary service in the Philippines, America, and the Czech Republic
• A powerful message of courage, hope, and second chances for every reader

Grades: Adults

Subjects & Topics: WWII, Holocaust, Kindertransport, Nicholas Winton, Christian memoir, biography, missions, Czechoslovakia, faith testimony