Antonín Kalina, hero from Trebic

Places: Třebíč, KT Buchenwald

Antonín Kalina was born in Třebíč. He came from a poor background, apprenticed as a shoemaker and worked in the Busi factory in Trebic. After the Nazis came to power and the creation of the Protectorate, he found himself on the list of enemies of the Reich. He was imprisoned in concentration camps for his left-wing views. In 1944, he was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp and here his heroism begins. By rewriting the lists, he saved 900 Jewish boys. From the transports bound for Buchenwald, he gathered the children at Block 66 and transcribed their names with his associate Henry Flusser into Christian names. In addition, he placed a sign in front of the block with the word typhus, and because the guards were afraid of typhus, they left the imprisoned boys in the block. Kalina did not talk about his act because he took it for granted. He was posthumously awarded the title Righteous Among the Nations. There is an exhibition dedicated to him in Trebic with a central exhibit, the Tree of Life, on which are the names of the rescued boys.

Characters: Antonín Kalina, Kalina's parents, his co-workers in the factory, soldiers, Jindřich Flusser, prisoners and children in the KT.

History and cultural context: Kalina is a native of Třebíč, an important rescuer of Jewish boys. His feat is comparable to that of Winton and Schindler, but unlike them, he rescued boys directly in the camp. That's why he himself was in danger of his life.

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