Yes, Bohumil Hrabal lived during World War II. He was born on March 28, 1914, in Brno, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), and died on February 3, 1997, in Prague, Czech Republic. World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945, so Hrabal was between 25 and 31 years old during the war.
The Bohumil Hrabal Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of the Czech Literary Master