Eduard Bloch - The Only Jew in Nazi Germany Protected by Adolf Hitler - Klara Hitler - Anschluss. Eduard Bloch was born on the 30th of January 1872 in Frauenberg, then part of Austria-Hungary. Bloch studied medicine in Prague and then served as a medical officer in the Austrian army. In 1899 he was ordered to Linz in Upper Austria, where he opened a private practice in 1901. Willing to call on patients at any time at night, Eduard Bloch was held in high regard, particularly among the families of lower and indigent social classes. Among such families was the family of Klara Hitler. Her husband Alois Hitler, who was 'awfully rough' with her and 'hardly ever spoke a word to her at home, had died in 1903. Their marriage produced 6 children. Alois Hitler was a stern, masterful, and often irritable father who demanded unquestioning respect and obedience from his children and used the switch whenever his expectations were not met. One of his children was Adolf Hitler. In 1906, Klara Hitler discovered a lump in her breast but initially ignored it. She underwent the mastectomy in Linz whereupon the surgeon discovered that the cancer had already metastasized to the pleural tissue in her chest. Bloch informed Klara's children that her condition was terminal. From November to early December, Bloch performed daily treatments of iodoform, a then experimental form of chemotherapy. Because of the poor economic situation of the Hitler family, Eduard Bloch charged reduced prices, sometimes taking no fee at all. Adolf would never forget this gesture. Hitler was a powerful and spellbinding speaker who attracted a wide following of Germans desperate for change. In the July 1932 Hitler and the Nazis became the largest political party in Germany and on the 30th of January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany. One of the main objectives of the Nazi regime was to redraw the map of post-World War I Europe. On the 12th of March German troops crossed the border. They were not met with armed resistance, but with cheers and flowers. Terrified Jews, leftists and Schuschnigg supporters tried to flee Austria. They raced towards the country’s borders, hoping to reach them before they were closed. Some managed to escape, but most were trapped in a rapidly Nazifiying Austria. Among Austrian Jews who did not flee the country was Eduard Bloch with his family. However, he was in a different position than the rest of Austrian Jews as he would be protected by Adolf Hitler himself. Even in 1937, Hitler had inquired about Bloch's well-being and called him an Edeljude ("noble Jew"). Hitler also said “ if all Jews were like him, there would be no Jewish question”. On the 13th of March, Austrian Nazi Chancellor Seyss-Inquart signed the law called the “Reunification of Austria with Germany”. This law, sometimes called the Anschluss law, formally incorporated Austria into Nazi Germany and gave the Anschluss the air of legality. On the 13th of March, Adolf Hitler visited his parents' grave in Leonding. Austrians welcomed Hitler warmly as he traveled first to Linz and then on to Vienna. Thousands turned out to greet the Führer and on the 15th of March he spoke to a huge crowd in Vienna’s Heldenplatz, a large square in the center of Vienna. For Austria’s approximately 200,000 Jews, the Anschluss marked a terrible turning point. Many decided to try to leave Austria and lines appeared at consulates across the city of Vienna. However, Eduard Bloch was not among them. After the 66-year-old Bloch wrote a letter to Hitler asking for help, Hitler personally intervened to ensure his safety. Consequently, Eduard Bloch was put under special protection by the Gestapo. He was the only Jew in Linz with this status. The Blochs remained in their home in Linz without disturbance for nearly three years. Eduard then asked Hitler if he could join his daughter in New York City. = In October 1940, Eduard Bloch and his wife were able to leave for Lisbon. Portugal was officially neutral during World War II. There they embarked for the United States on board the Spanish ocean liner settling in the New York borough of the Bronx. However, Bloch was no longer able to practice medicine because his medical degree from Austria-Hungary was not recognized. Eduard Bloch was 73 years old when he died on the 1st of June 1945, barely a month after Hitler's death. Disclaimer: All opinions and comments below are from members of the public and do not reflect the views of World History channel. We do not accept promoting violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on attributes such as: race, nationality, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation. World History has right to review the comments and delete them if they are deemed inappropriate. ► CLICK the SUBSCRIBE button for more interesting clips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKKy_pNKZBX4KcCct8505HA/?sub_confirmation=1 #worldwar2 #nazigermany #worldhistory

• published: 23 Nov 2022
• views: 617503