Wikipedia's first sentence called it “british -born member of an important berlin jewish family and a strong supporter of zionism”. Today it says “anglo-german businessman and philanthropist”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the October 6, 2023 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in October 6, 2023
Jewish Anglo-German businessman active in the Kindertransport Portrait in the Wilfrid Israel Museum in HaZore'a , Israel Wilfrid Berthold Jacob Israel (11 July 1899 – 1 June 1943) was an Anglo-German businessman and philanthropist, born into a wealthy Anglo-German Jewish family, who was active in the rescue of Jews from Nazi Germany , and who played a significant role in the Kindertransport . Described as "gentle and courageous" and "intensely secretive", Wilfrid Israel avoided public office and shunned publicity, but had, according to his biographer Naomi Shepherd, an "almost hypnotic" ability to influence friends and colleagues. Martin Buber described him as "a man of great moral stature, dedicated to the service of others". He was killed when his civilian passenger plane, en route from Lisbon to Bristol , was shot down by a Luftwaffe fighter patrol over the Bay of Biscay .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1178374919.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Israel (11 July, 1899 - 1 June, 1943) was a British -born member of an important Berlin Jewish family and a strong supporter of Zionism .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 368996755.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Described as "gentle and courageous" and "intensely secretive", Wilfrid Israel avoided public office and shunned publicity, but had, according to his biographer Naomi Shepherd, an "almost hypnotic" ability to influence friends and colleagues.Martin Buber described him as "a man of great moral stature, dedicated to the service of others".He was killed when his civilian passenger plane, en route from Lisbon to Bristol , was shot down by a Luftwaffe fighter patrol over the Bay of Biscay .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 660039176.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Described as "gentle and courageous" and "intensely secretive", Wilfrid Israel avoided public office and shunned publicity, but had, according to his biographer Naomi Shepherd, an "almost hypnotic" ability to influence friends and colleagues. Martin Buber described him as "a man of great moral stature, dedicated to the service of others". He was killed when his civilian passenger plane, en route from Lisbon to Bristol , was shot down by a Luftwaffe fighter patrol over the Bay of Biscay .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965253904.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “british -born member of an important berlin jewish family and a strong supporter of zionism”. Today it says “anglo-german businessman and philanthropist”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
british -born member of an important berlin jewish family and a strong supporter of zionism
Now
anglo-german businessman and philanthropist
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
