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Statue for the Purbeck Schindler: Unsung British hero who helped save hundreds of children destined for Nazi concentration camps will be honoured in bronze

An unsung British hero who helped save hundreds of children destined to die in Nazi concentration camps will be honoured with a life-size statue in his hometown.

Trevor Chadwick, known as the 'Purbeck Schindler', helped Sir Nicholas Winton rescue 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia as the country came under the grip of Nazi occupation in the months before World War Two.

At great personal risk, the schoolteacher negotiated with the Gestapo to agree exit passes for children, one of whom went on to become a poet whose work has been praised by the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy.

The hero’s involvement in the operation, known as the Czech 'kindertransport', was not uncovered until more than 50 years after the war.

Trevor Chadwick, known as the 'Purbeck Schindler', helped Sir Nicholas Winton rescue 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia. He is pictured as a young man

Trevor Chadwick, known as the 'Purbeck Schindler', helped Sir Nicholas Winton rescue 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia. He is pictured as a young man 

Chadwick, who died in 1979, travelled back and forth between England and Prague in 1939 to supervise the movement of hundreds of children by train and aircraft.

He was known for his friendly and personable manner that helped put children at ease at the most terrifying time of their lives.

In May, the Trevor Chadwick Memorial Trust confirmed it was raising more than £80,000 for a statue of the humanitarian to be erected in Swanage, Dorset.

An 18-inch model of the bronze tribute has now been created by sculptor Moira Purver, which will be scaled up to life-size and placed on display in the town in 2022.

Mrs Purver said: 'I first was alerted about this project in January and I had never heard of Trevor so I did plenty of reading up on him before starting the maquette model of a at the beginning of July.

'He was an amazing man - incredibly brave and warm, and this helped put the children at ease.

'I wanted to capture the powerful connection between him and the children.

'People have been incredibly pleased with it and say I've managed to capture that emotion.'

The teacher's involvement in Czechoslovakia began when he visited Prague in January 1939 to sponsor two child refugees to house at his family's prep school in Swanage.

In May, the Trevor Chadwick Memorial Trust confirmed it was raising more than £80,000 for a statue of the humanitarian to be erected in Swanage, Dorset

In May, the Trevor Chadwick Memorial Trust confirmed it was raising more than £80,000 for a statue of the humanitarian to be erected in Swanage, Dorset

The father of a third child also approached him and begged for his help. Chadwick was able to rescue her too and she became the poet Gerda Mayer, who has been praised by former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.

While in Prague he met Sir Nicholas, who had visited the city on the advice of a friend, as well as Doreen Warriner, a representative of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia.

He agreed to organise the Prague end of the banker's evacuation operation if he could get the British government permission to bring unaccompanied children to the UK.

By this point the Nazis had already seized part of Czechoslovakia, prompting an influx of Jewish refugees into the capital, where they lived in crowded, unsanitary camps.

With time running out, Sir Nicholas drew up a list of names of children to be rescued, and tasked his mother back in England with getting the Home Office to organise permits for their entry.

He returned home a month later, but Chadwick remained in Prague to organise the rescue operation even after the Nazis had overrun the city six weeks later.

Showing remarkable bravery, the teacher negotiated with the Gestapo to obtain exit permits for the children, and successfully organised for eight groups of children to leave Prague for London.

Sir Nicholas aged 100 in 2009 at an event at Liverpool Street Station to celebrate his work

Sir Nicholas aged 100 in 2009 at an event at Liverpool Street Station to celebrate his work 

His cousin, Annie Bridger, 67, still lives in Swanage, and recalled his 'wonderful wit'.

'I only discovered in the last few years what he had done and I was bowled over,' she told the BBC.

'The family are very, very proud of him'.

Paying tribute to his friend, Sir Nicholas later wrote: 'Chadwick did the more difficult and dangerous work after the Nazis invaded... he deserves all praise.'

After the war he moved to Oslo with his German wife Sigrid, who was 28 years his junior, and took a job as an academic publisher.

He originally chose the city for its fresh air, because of his frequently relapsing TB but stayed there for the rest of his life until he died in 1979.

John Corben, chairman of the Trevor Chadwick Memorial Trust, said: 'In many cases he had to arrange forged documents simply because he couldn't get them through a normal source.

'He also had to liaise with London because each child that came out of Prague had to have a sponsor in this country who had to pay £50.

'He did some really important work that people don't necessarily know about.'

An Estonian teacher rings the dinner bell for Jewish refugee children at Dovercourt Camp near Harwich. Image undated

 An Estonian teacher rings the dinner bell for Jewish refugee children at Dovercourt Camp near Harwich. Image undated 

Mr Chadwick's cousin, Annie Bridger, still lives in the Purbeck area.

She described her relative as 'selfless, compassionate and brave'.

She added: 'He did it totally selflessly. He had to befriend some of the Nazis in order to get a shoe in but had they found out what he was up to that would have been the end of him.

'Absolutely he was a reluctant hero.'

Later in life, Chadwick suffered from tuberculosis and moved to Oslo, Norway where he worked at academic publisher Oslo University Press.

Schindler, a German industrialist and member of the Nazi Party, is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews throughout World War Two by employing them in his factories in Poland. 

How Trevor Chadwick and Sir Nicholas Winton helped save hundreds of children from the Nazis - including a future poet 

Trevor Chadwick, known as the 'Purbeck Schindler', played an instrumental role in helping Sir Nicholas Winton rescue 669 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in the months before the outbreak of World War Two.

Sir Nicholas always took pains to highlight Chadwick's contribution to his work, noting that he faced greater personal risk by staying in the country even after it was fully occupied by the Nazis.

The teacher's involvement in Czechoslovakia began when he visited Prague in January 1939 to sponsor two child refugees to house at his family's prep school in Swanage.

Paying tribute to Chadwick - pictured with a refugee - Sir Nicholas said: 'Chadwick did the more difficult and dangerous work after the Nazis invaded... he deserves all praise'

Paying tribute to Chadwick - pictured with a refugee - Sir Nicholas said: 'Chadwick did the more difficult and dangerous work after the Nazis invaded... he deserves all praise' 

The father of a third child also approached him and begged for his help. Chadwick was able to rescue her too and she became the poet Gerda Mayer, who has been praised by former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.

While in Prague he met Sir Nicholas, who had visited the city on the advice of a friend, as well as Doreen Warriner, a representative of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia.

He agreed to organise the Prague end of the banker's evacuation operation if he could get the British government permission to bring unaccompanied children to the UK.

By this point the Nazis had already seized part of Czechoslovakia, prompting an influx of Jewish refugees into the capital, where they lived in crowded, unsanitary camps.

With time running out, Sir Nicholas drew up a list of names of children to be rescued, and tasked his mother back in England with getting the Home Office to organise permits for their entry.

Chadwick worked with Sir Nicholas Winton (pictured in an undated image with one of the children he rescued) after they met in Prague

Chadwick worked with Sir Nicholas Winton (pictured in an undated image with one of the children he rescued) after they met in Prague 

He returned home a month later, but Chadwick remained in Prague to organise the rescue operation even after the Nazis had overrun the city six weeks later.

Showing remarkable bravery, the teacher negotiated with the Gestapo to obtain exit permits for the children, and successfully organised for eight groups of children to leave Prague for London.

Paying tribute to his friend, Sir Nicholas later said: 'Chadwick did the more difficult and dangerous work after the Nazis invaded... he deserves all praise.'

After the war he moved to Oslo with his German wife Sigrid, who was 28 years his junior, and took a job as an academic publisher.

He originally chose the city for its fresh air, because of his frequently relapsing TB but stayed there for the rest of his life until he died in 1979.   

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