War refugee pays tribute to saviour

MAARTEN HOLL/ The Dominion Post

LIFESAVING TRAIN TRIP: Bob Fantl now, and his passport photo from when, as a 15-year-old Czech boy (inset), he travelled to safety at the beginning of World War II on the Kindertransport train through Europe. He left behind his mother and sister, who survived the Holocaust and were reunited with him in New Zealand after the war.

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WithWorld War II imminent, a tearful Bob Fantl waved goodbye to his mother and sister in Prague and boarded a train to safety, knowing he might never see them again.

The Wellington man was one of 669 Jewish children transported out of the Czech capital by Sir Nicholas Winton in 1939, saving them from the Nazis and concentration camps.

Thirty-four members of Mr Fantl's family ignored advice to follow the children out of Prague and were sent to ghettos, worked to death in labour camps or murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

Only four survived, including Mr Fantl's mother who died in New Zealand in 1972 and sister, now 89 and living in a Taita retirement village.

After 70 years, many of those on the train have been reunited with Sir Nicholas, whose deeds in saving the children remained a secret for 50 years, until his wife, Greta, found an old leather briefcase on the Kindertransport or children's transport in 1988.

Mr Fantl, 86, who has lived at the home he designed in Wilton, Wellington, for 55 years, did not make it to London for a reunion last weekend, but will never forget the journey he made as a terrified 15-year-old.

"I owe my life to him. He is a very special man and I will always remember what he did.

"A close family friend sent a telegram to my mother saying that there was a train leaving Prague in a couple of days and I needed to be on it.

"The sense of dread was certainly there, not that anybody ever thought what would finally happen.

"Even to this day it is very sad what happened. You never forget. The train was supposed to be for those under 15 years of age. I had just turned 15 so must have been lucky."

Mr Fantl stayed at camps in England but eventually left for New Zealand, where he had organised to meet his mother and sister in October 1940.

"I was a great proponent of moving to New Zealand. I had read about it in travel books and it seemed like a good place to come to.

"Mother and my sister were supposed to follow me to England as soon as possible but the situation changed dramatically and the borders were soon closed. But I was always confident I would see them again. My dad died when I was five days old, so it was important not to lose them."

Soon after arriving in New Zealand, he joined the air force to train as a pilot so he could return and fight in the war. He was due to go to England on a mission but it was cancelled.

Mr Fantl wrote a letter to Sir Nicholas after his deeds came to light, thanking him for saving his life.

"Had I stayed behind it is unlikely I would be here today."

- © Fairfax NZ News