An Austrian Jew, Bloch was awarded special protection by Hitler who personally intervened to ensure his safety following the German annexation of Austria in 1938.

[1] Following Kristallnacht and the escalation of anti-Jewish sentiment in Germany, Hitler allowed Bloch to emigrate to the United States, where he lived until his death in 1945, succumbing to stomach cancer.

She died on 21 December after intense suffering involving daily medication with iodoform, a foul-smelling and painful corrosive treatment typically used at the time and administered by Bloch.

Without any interference from the authorities, they were able to sell their family home at market value, highly unusual with the distress sales of emigrating Jews at the time and Nazi expropriation of Jewish assets through the Reich Flight Tax.

[6] In 1940, Bloch immigrated to the US and settled in the Bronx, 2755 Creston Avenue, New York City but was no longer able to practice medicine because his medical degree from Austria-Hungary was not recognised.