Peter Bloch (journalist)

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Peter Bloch

Peter Bloch (born October 19, 1921 in Frankfurt am Main ; † July 31, 2008 in New York City ) was a German-American historian , writer , journalist and expert in Puerto Rican music and art.

He had lived in New York since 1949, but kept in touch with his hometown Frankfurt am Main, which he visited frequently in the last 14 years of his life. As a contemporary witness of the persecution of the Jews in the so-called Third Reich , he never tire of giving lectures to students at his former grammar school (now Wöhlerschule ) about his experiences, but also about literary and art-historical topics. He is one of the 100 people in the “Library of the Elderly” in the Historical Museum in Frankfurt , where his lectures and interviews received a lot of attention. He spoke perfect Spanish, French, English and German.

Life

Frankfurt am Main (1921–1939)

Peter Bloch's family of Sephardic (Spanish-Jewish) descent includes well-known doctors and scholars among its members. His grandfather James Israel (1848–1926) was a pioneer in urology at the Jewish Hospital in Berlin. Peter Bloch grew up in Frankfurt's Westend , on Lindenstrasse. 39, in an upper-class milieu. His father, Dr. Arthur Bloch, was a urological surgeon and chief physician at the hospital of the Patriotic Women's Association before he was released in 1933 and continued his practice in two rooms of his apartment. From 1931 Peter Bloch attended the “Wöhler Realgymnasium” (today Wöhlerschule) on the corner of Guiolett / Lindenstrasse, which he left in 1936 as one of the last Jewish students. He switched to the philanthropist , where he passed his Abitur in the spring of 1939. Shortly afterwards he emigrated to England alone.

England and Belgium (1939–1942)

From a young age, Peter Bloch loved and studied the history and culture of Spain. Although his art teacher encouraged him very much, he didn't want to be a painter, but a writer. During his stay in London in 1939, his parents managed to flee to Belgium. England had allowed his father to enter, but not the family. At the end of August 1939, Peter Bloch and his family, which also included his mother's maternal friend Luise Fölsche, were reunited in Brussels. The family's works of art, rare books and antiques, were stored in the port of Rotterdam for overseas transport ; they were confiscated by Nazi authorities in 1944 and have been missing since then. Peter Bloch began studying history at the University of Brussels . After the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940, he joined the resistance and wrote explanations for it on banned BBC radio broadcasts that he had secretly listened to. In the summer of 1942 a reign of terror began for the Jews in Belgium. The Judenrat of Brussels warned the student Peter Bloch of his imminent deportation . His father got him a forged passport in the name of Pierre Boulanger. When his parents received a written request to deport him on June 16, 1942, Peter had already crossed the border from France to Switzerland with an escape helper (June 11, 1942). His parents found separate hiding places in Brussels. On August 13, 1943, his father was caught by the Gestapo and hanged on the same day by the SS in the SS assembly camp in the Dossin barracks in Mechelen .

Switzerland (July 1942 – May 1945)

Switzerland granted Peter Bloch asylum after influential friends of his parents intervened in his favor. Initially interned, five months in Bellechasse prison , then nine months in the Hedingen labor camp , he was then allowed to study at the University of Geneva , but had to return to the labor camp during the semester break. In his book When I was Pierre Boulanger , Peter Bloch recalled: "Conditions of internment [...] were bad in Bellechasse prison [...] and better in the labor camps where the Swiss used refugees as slave labor." Not until May 30, 1945 Peter saw his mother again in Brussels.

New York (1949-2008)

In 1949 Peter Bloch and his mother Else Bloch (1891–1988) arrived in New York. His half-brother Werner Czapski (1912–1972), a graduate engineer, followed later. Peter Bloch earned his living as a journalist for European newspapers. In 1955 he became an American citizen. His Spanish-Jewish mother traditionally admired Hispanic culture, so it was only natural for Peter Bloch to immerse himself in Puerto Rican life in New York. Josephine Burgos, a cousin of Julia de Burgos , introduced him to the Puerto Rican community and her own family. In an interview ("Daily News", 1974) he said: "I heard a lot of foolish and dangerous talk about them, even from other minorities who should know better. I felt it important to tell their story, why? Because no one else would. ”Bloch wanted to show the Puerto Ricans that, as heirs to a rich culture, they had every reason to be proud of that heritage. In his book La-Le-Lo-Lai - Puerto Rican music and its performers , he advised: “For those who want to acquire some notions about the contribution to the civilization of the Americas and of the Hispanic nations Puerto Rican music is one of the best venues of approach; for the message of music is universal, cosmic and transcends any language barrier. "He said:" Whenever I visit Puerto Rico I feel as if it were my own country. "

With enthusiasm and love, Peter Bloch produced concerts, recitals, readings, radio programs (station WNYC -AM), art exhibitions (New York and Germany), wrote six books and countless newspaper and magazine articles and gave many lectures from Berlin to Caracas . He was the founder and chairman of the Association for Puerto-Rican-Hispanic Culture (1965), founder of the Rafael Hernández Music Festival (1967), chairman of the board of directors of the non-profit organization Against Dishonesty & Poverty in Latin America and editor-in-chief of its newspaper Verdad Latina .

Peter Bloch was trustee of the Alfred Fahndrich Santos Collection . This collection was on display at the Museum of Hispanic Contemporary Art and is now in the Eugenio María de Hostos Community College of the City University of New York. Peter Bloch received many honors for his selfless commitment. In 1955 he was honored by the League of Belgian and Allied Patriots . He has also received three Recognition Awards from Boricua College , New York City. In 1964 the mayor gave him the key to the capital San Juan (Puerto Rico) . In 1969 the Spanish head of state appointed him Knight of the Order of Isabel la Católica . In 1985 he received the Golden Medal, and in 2005 the Grand Medal of the Société Académie Arts, Sciences, Lettres de Paris , of which he was the US representative for 30 years until his death.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Albert Schweitzer were the formative influences on his spiritual world. He always referred to Goethe as the poet of German thought. He welcomed Schweitzer's postulate that culture and education are the same - that education is an ethical value.

Peter Bloch died on July 31, 2008 in New York.

Publications

Works

  • La-Le-Lo-Lai - Puerto Rican music and its performers (1973)
  • Painting and sculpture of the Puerto Ricans (1978)
  • Music of the Hispanic Antilles, Dominican Republic, Cuba & Puerto Rico (1981)
  • De van Eyck a Chagall . Once grandes pintores. Caracas 1987
  • 1492 - From a distant star (1991)
  • The Emilia Conde Story - A dramatized biography in concert (1991, 2nd edition 1994)
  • La-Le-Lo-Lai - The story of Puerto Rican Music (2000)
  • Sefarad . The Spanish Jews of the Middle Ages and their Culture (2000)
  • My Mother's Salon - Memories (2001). (Translation into English: My Mother's Salon - Recollections (2011))
  • When I was Pierre Boulanger . 1942 - A diary in times of terror (2002)
  • Figures of my century . The poet's refuge New York City (2006)
  • My teachers (2008)

Essays and interviews

  • From my school days… . Graduated from U II in 1936. In: 25 years of the new Wöhlerschule am Dornbusch, 1957–1982. Editor: Gerhard Otte. (1982)
  • Memories of James Israel . In: Rolf Winau (editor): James Israel, 1848–1926 . Wiesbaden 1983, pp. 7-95.
  • How I experienced the pogrom . In: ... that we were not wanted . November pogrom 1938 in Frankfurt am Main. Reports and Documents (1993)
  • "Miraculously escaped death ..." (1994). Conversation with Peter Bloch (New York) in the Historical Museum in Frankfurt am Main

literature

  • If someone told me that, I would believe they were fooling around . Peter Bloch's miraculous rescue from the concentration camp. In: Gelnhauser Neue Zeitung, June 21, 1996, p. 12.
  • Hans-Joachim Eichenauer: The fault of the way-watchers . Grimmels students spoke to Peter Bloch, journalist, cultural historian and Nazi victim. In: Gelnhauser Tageblatt, June 21, 1996, p. 14.
  • Frank Braun: Demonstration against the “last Jew” from the Wöhlerschule . Peter Bloch talks about his youth under National Socialism. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, July 30, 1996.
  • One last wine before the flight . The Jewish journalist Peter Bloch in the narrative café. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, May 17, 1998.
  • Nice return - visions and dark Gestapo dreams . The 77-year-old journalist Peter Bloch from New York is a guest in the storytelling café. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, May 18, 1998.
  • Peter Bloch - “German and Jew at the same time” . In: Frankfurter Neue Presse, May 18, 1998.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bloch, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American journalist
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH July 31, 2008
Place of death New York City