There were cases when people refused to go to a concentration camp
Tomáš Hrbek was born August 15, 1943 in Olomouc. His mother is of Jewish origin and his father was partly Jewish as well. Many of his relatives were transported to concentration camps. His father, attorney Leo Hrbek, exerted great effort to save his wife from having to board a transport. Otokar Bittman, a gynaecologist from Olomouc, helped the family when he provided a shelter in the hospital for Tomáš‘s mother. Tomáš Hrbek studied English and Czech studies at the Faculty of Arts of Palacký University in Olomouc and afterward he was teaching at the Secondary School of Economics in Olomouc until 1990. In 1990 he returned to the Faculty of Arts where he started teaching at the Department of Art History. He also held the position of a chancellor at Palacký University until 2009. Tomáš Hrbek currently serves in several honorary positions: he is the vice-chairman of the Jewish Community in Olomouc, vice-chairman of the Foundation for Holocaust Victims and a member of the Council of the Federation of Jewish Communities. He has lived in Olomouc for his entire life.