The history of the twentieth century contains a remarkably unusual occurrence involving a Jewish doctor and the leader of the Third Reich. In a time when persecution became systematic and widespread, one physician experienced an entirely different reality.
This man lived undisturbed in his Austrian home and was ultimately placed under the direct protection of the Gestapo by the personal order of Adolf Hitler. The sequence of events that led to this unique exception began decades earlier in a modest medical practice.
A Compassionate Physician in Linz
Dr. Eduard Bloch was born in 1872 in Podhrad, Bohemia. After studying medicine at Charles University in Prague and serving as a medical officer in the Austrian army, he opened a private practice in Linz in 1901. Operating out of a baroque house at 12 Landstrasse, Bloch became highly regarded in his community.
He was especially known for his willingness to treat patients from the lower and indigent social classes. In 1904, Bloch treated a teenager from a local family for minor ailments. That teenager was Adolf Hitler.
The Disease That Struck Klara
In 1907, Adolf’s mother, 
, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her condition was severe and required intense daily care. Dr. Bloch administered iodoform, a standard but highly painful and foul-smelling corrosive treatment of that era.
Aware of the Hitler family’s poor economic situation, the doctor charged them significantly reduced fees and sometimes asked for no payment at all. Klara died on December 21, 1907. The following year, young Adolf sent Dr. Bloch a postcard expressing his gratitude and gave him handmade gifts to show his appreciation for the care provided to his dying mother.
The Intervention of the Gestapo
Following the German annexation of Austria in March 1938, Jewish citizens faced severe restrictions and violence. Dr. Bloch’s medical practice was forced to close on October 1, 1938. At the age of 66, Bloch wrote a direct letter to Hitler asking for assistance.
In response, Hitler referred to the doctor as an “Edeljude,” a “noble Jew.” Hitler immediately placed Bloch under special Gestapo protection. Bloch was the only Jewish resident in Linz to receive this status. While others faced brutal expropriation, the doctor and his wife remained completely undisturbed in their home.
Emigration to the Bronx
The protective order allowed the Blochs to sell their family house at its full market value. They were also permitted to take the equivalent of 16 Reichsmarks out of the country, which was more than the standard allowance. In 1940, Dr. Bloch and his wife successfully immigrated to the United States and settled in the Bronx, New York City.
Because his Austrian medical degree was not recognized, he could no longer practice medicine. He lived there quietly until he died of stomach cancer on June 1, 1945, barely one month after the death of the dictator who had spared him.