Nicholas Winton lived 106 years on this Earth.

And for part of that long and glorious life, he managed to do something so astonishing it boggles the mind. He saved the lives of 669 children from death at the hands of the Nazi tyrant Adolf Hitler.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/01/europe/nicholas-winton-obituary/

Queen Elizabeth knighted Sir Nicholas in 2003 for the deed he performed during the late 1930s. He had been to Czechoslovakia and had seen the threat being posed to Jews throughout Europe. Many of them were children who were certain to die at the hands of the Nazi monsters.

He went home to Great Britain and set about to organize the systematic evacuation of those children. He saved their lives, giving them a chance to grow to adulthood and bring families of their own into this world.

His modesty was legendary. He hardly ever spoke about what he had done. “60 Minutes” profiled him a couple of years ago. And in the segment, the news show broadcast a reunion he had with dozens of the people he had saved. He sat among them at a gathering, not knowing these middle-aged individuals were children who owed their very lives to this humble stockbroker.

When they stood up — surrounding him — to recognize what he had done and to thank him publicly, this giant of humanity wept.

Sir Nicholas died today.

As British Prime Minister David Cameron said, “The world has lost a great man.”

Watch this video and you get a look at true, unvarnished greatness.