A HOLOCAUST survivor has paid tribute to the man who saved his life, who has died aged 106.

In 1939 Sir Nicholas Winton arranged for Thame resident John Fieldsend, then aged seven, to be rescued by the Kindertransport programme, which helped Jewish children get out of Nazi Europe by train.

Mr Fieldsend was able to get to Britain with his 10-year-old brother Gert and was fostered by an English family.

He left his parents behind in Czechoslovakia and only much later discovered they had died in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Paying tribute to Sir Nicholas he said: “He saved my life.

“He was instrumental in bringing 669 of us out of Czechoslovakia.

“He contacted Jewish families and booked trains and got permission from the British government.

“He was very warm and very caring and he had a very steely attitude – if he said he was going to do something, he did it.”

“He was only a young man of 27 at the time and he sacrificed his career just for the sake of helping others.

“He was willing to make that sacrifice and it made a lot of difference to us.

“It shows what any of us can do if the circumstances demand it.”

Sir Nicholas did not discuss his efforts with anyone after the war until his wife found out what he had done when she discovered a scrapbook in their attic in 1988.

The world only found out about his work in the same year during an episode of the BBC television programme That’s Life.

He was given the highest honour awarded by the Czech Republic, the Order of the White Lion, by president Miloš Zeman in October 2014. He was knighted in 2002.

Born in Hampstead in London, Sir Nicholas worked as a banker in Europe before he got involved in the British welfare effort in Czechoslovakia and single-handedly set up the Kinderstransport scheme to get Jewish children out of the country.

Mr Fieldsend settled in Sheffield where he was fostered by a collier manager, Leslie Cumpsty, and his wife Vera.

He was able to remain in contact with his parents for some time by writing letters home, but lost contact with them and much later discovered they had died at Auschwitz.