00010380.GIF   Page 26

...All friends of the family know how Frau Hitler encouraged his
 boyish efforts to become an artist; at what cost to herself one may 
guess. Despite her poverty, she permitted him to reject a job which 
was offered in the Post office, so that he could continue his painting. 
She admired his water colors and his sketches of the countryside. 
Whether this was honest admiration or whether it was merely an 
effort to encourage his talent I do not know.

     She did her best to raise her boy well. She saw that he was neat, 
clean ,and as well fed as her purse would permit. Whenever he came
 to my consultation room this strange boy would sit among the other 
patients, awaiting his turn.

     There was never anything seriously wrong. Possibly his tonsils 
would be inflamed. He would stand obedient and unflinching while 
I depressed his tongue and swabbed the trouble spots. Or, possibly, he 
would be suffering with a cold. I would treat him and send him on 
his way. Like any well-bred boy of fourteen or fifteen he would bow 
and thank me courteously.

     I, of course, know of the stomach trouble that beset him later in life 
largely as a result of bad diet while working as a common laborer in 
Vienna. I cannot understand the many references to his lung trouble 
as a youth. I was the only doctor treating him during the period in 
which he is supposed to have suffered from this. My records show 
nothing of the sort. To be sure, he didn't have the rosy cheeks and 
the robust good health of most of the other youngsters; but at the 
same time he was not sickly.

...At the Realschule young Adolf's work was anything but brilliant. 
Authority for this, I have the word of his former teacher, Dr. Karl 
Huemer an old acquaintance of mine. I was Frau Huemer's physician. 
In Mein Kampf, Hitler records that he was an indifferent student in 
most subjects, but that he loved history. This agrees with the 
recollections of Prof. Huemer.

    Desiring additional training in painting, Hitler decided he would 
go to Vienna to study at the Academy. This was a momentous 
decision for a member of a poor family. His mother worried about 
how he would get along, I understand that she even suggested 
pinching the family budget a little tighter to enable her to send 
him a tiny allowance. Credit to the boy, he refused. He even went 
farther; he signed his minute inheritance over to his sisters. 
He was eighteen at the time.

I am not sure of the exact details of what happened on that trip to
Vienna. Some contend that he was not admitted to the Academy 
because of his unsatisfactory art work. Others accept Hitler's 
statement that his rejection was due to his failure to graduate 
from the Realschule- .. In any case he was home again within 
a few weeks. It was later in this year - 1908 - that it became my 
duty to give Hitler what was perhaps the saddest news of his life.

00010381.GIF   Page 27

One day Frau Hitler came to visit me during my morning office 
hours. She complained of a pain in her chest. She spoke in a 
quiet, hushed voice; almost a whisper. The pain she said, had 
been great; enough to keep her awake nights on end. She had 
been busy with her household so had neglected to seek 
medical aid. Besides, she thought the pain would pass.away... 
An examination showed that Frau Hitler had an extensive 
tumor of the breast. I did not tell her of my diagnosis.

    I summoned the children to my office next day and stated 
the case frankly. Their mother, I told them, was a gravely ill 
woman .... Without surgery, I explained, there was absolutely 
no hope of recovery. Even with surgery there was but the 
slightest chance that she would live. In family council 
they must decide what was to be done.

    Adolf Hitler's reaction to this news was touching. His long, 
sallow face was contorted. Tears flowed from his eyes,. Did his 
mother, he asked, have no chance? Only then did I realize the 
magnitude of the attachment that existed between mother and 
son. I explained that she did have a chance; but a small one. 
Even this shred of hope gave him some comfort.

    The children carried my message to their mother. She 
accepted the verdict as I was sure she would- with fortitude. 
Deeply religious, she assumed that her fate was God's will. 
It would never have occurred to her to complain. She would 
submit to the operation as soon as I could make preparations.

    I explained the case to Dr. Karl Urban, the chief of the 
surgical staff at the Hospital of the Sisters of Mercy in Linz. 
Urban was one of the best-known surgeons in Upper Austria. 
He was - and is - a generous man, a credit to his profession. 
He willingly agreed to undertake the operation on any basis 
I suggested. After examination he concurred in my belief that 
Frau Hitler had very little chance of surviving but that surgery
 offered the only hope.

... Frau Hitler arrived at the hospital one evening in the early 
summer of 1908. I do not have the exact date, for my records 
of the case were placed in the archives of the Nazi party in Munich.

    In any case, Frau Hitler spent the night in the hospital and 
was operated on the following morning. At the request of this
 gentle, harried soul I remained beside the operating table 
while Dr. Urban and his assistant performed the surgery.

    Two hours later drove in my carriage across the Danube 
to the little house at No. 9 Bluetenstrasse, in the section of 
the city known as Urfahr. There the children awaited me.

    The girls received the word I brought with calm and 
reserve. The face of the boy was streaked with tears, and 
his eyes were tired and red. He listened until I had finished
 speaking. He had but one question. In a choked voice 
he asked: "Does my mother suffer?"


00010382.GIF  Page 28

...As weeks and months passed after the operation Frau Hitler's 
strength began visibly to fail. At most she could be out of bed for
 an hour or two a day. During this period Adolf spent most of his 
time around the house, to which his mother had returned.

    He slept in the tiny bedroom adjoining that of his mother 
so that he could be summoned at any time during the night. 
During the day he hovered about the large bed in which she lay.

    An illness such as that suffered by Frau Hitler, there is usually 
a great amount of pain. She bore her burden well; unflinching 
and uncomplaining. But it seemed to torture her son. An 
anguished grimace would come over him when he saw pain 
contract her face. There was little that could be done. An 
injection of morphine from time to time would give temporary 
relief; but nothing lasting. Yet Adolf seemed enormously grateful 
even for these short periods of release.

I shall never forget Klara Hitler during those days. She was forty 
eight at the time; tall, slender and rather handsome, yet wasted 
by disease. She was soft-spoken, patient; more concerned about 
what would happen to her family than she was about her 
approaching death. She made no secret of these worries; or 
about the fact that most of her thoughts were for her son. 
"Adolf is still so young." she said repeatedly.

    On the day of December 20, I made two calls. The end was 
approaching ...So the word that Angela Hitler brought me 
the following morning came as no surprise. Her mother 
had died quietly in the night. The children had decided not 
to disturb me, knowing that their mother was beyond all 
medical aid. But, she asked, could I come now? Someone 
in an official position would have to sign the death certificate....

...The postmaster's widow, their closest friend, was with the 
children, having more or less taken charge of things. Adolf, 
his face showing the weariness of a sleepless night, sat beside 
his mother. In order to preserve a last impression, he had
 sketched her as she lay on her deathbed...

    I sat with the family for a while, trying to ease their grief. 
I explained that in this case death had been a savior. They 
understood. In the practice of my profession it is natural 
that I should have witnessed many scenes such as this one,
yet none of them left me with quite the same impression. 
In all my career I have never seen anyone so prostrate with
 grief as Adolf Hitler.

00010383.GIF  Page 29

I did not attend Klara Hitler's funeral, Which was held on 
Christmas Eve. The body was taken from Urfahr to Leonding, 
only a few miles distant. Klara Hitler was buried beside her 
husband in the Catholic cemetery, behind the small yellow 
stucco church. After the others - the girls, and the postmaster's 
widow - had left, Adolf remained behind; unable to tear 
himself away from the freshly filled grave.

. ...A few days after the funeral the family came to my office. 
They wished to thank me for the help I had given them. 
There was Paula, fair and stocky; Angela, slender, pretty but 
rather anemic; Klara and Adolf, The girls spoke what was in 
their hearts while Adolf remained silent. I recall this particular 
scene as vividly as I might recall something that took place 
last week.

     Adolf wore a dark suit and a loosely knotted cravat. Then,
 as now, a shock of hair tumbled over his forehead. , His eyes 
were on the floor while his sisters were talking. Then came 
his turn. He stepped forward and took my hand. Looking into 
my eyes, he said: "I shall be grateful to .you forever." That was all. 
Then he bowed. I wonder if today he recalls this scene. I am 
quite sure that he does, for in a sparing sense Adolf Hitler has 
kept to his promise of gratitude. Favors were. granted me 
which I feel sure were accorded no other Jew in all Germany 
or Austria.

...During this period (first years in Vienna) he took time out to 
send me a penny post card. On the back was a message: "From 
Vienna I send you my greetings. Yours, always faithfully, Adolf 
Hitler."

. ..Official Nazi publications also record that I received one of 
Hitler's paintings - a small landscape. If I did I am not aware 
of it. But it is quite possible that he sent me one and that I have 
forgotten the matter. In Austria patients frequently send paintings
 or other gifts to their physicians as a mark of gratitude...

...I did, however, preserve one piece of Hitler's art work.
This came during the period in Vienna when he was 
painting post cards, posters, etc., making enough money 
to support himself .... Hitler sent me one of these cards. 
It showed a hooded Capuchin monk hoisting a glass of 
bubling champagne. Under the picture was a caption:
"Prosit NeuJahr." On the reverse side he had written a 
message: "The Hitler family sends you the best wishes for 
a Happy New Year. In everlasting thankfulness, Adolf Hitler. "
(reports about confiscation of these souvenirs by Gestapo 
who issued receipt for them)

    When he left for Vienna, Adolf Hitler was destined to
 disappear from our lives for a great many years .... Not until 
the beginning of his political career in 1920 were we again to 
get news of this quiet, polite boy who grew up among us. 


00010384.GIF   Page 30


... in 1937, a number of local Nazis attended the party conference
 at Nirnber [sic].  After the conference Hitler invited several 
of these people to come with him to his mountain villa at 
Berchtesgaden. The Fuehrer asked for news of Linz. How 
was the town ? Were people there supporting him? He asked 
for news of me. Was I still alive, still practicing? Then he made 
a statement irritating to local Nzis [sic]. "Dr. Bloch," said Hitler, 
"is an Edaljude - a noble Jew. If all Jews were like him, there 
would be no Jewish question."...

Dr. E. Bloch-  My Patient Hitler - Colliers, March 1941

About Hitler's return to Linz:

.. It was a moment of tense excitement. For years Hitler had 
been denied the right to visit the country of his birth. Now 
that country belonged to him.  The elation that he felt was 
written on his features. He smiled, waved, gave the Nazi 
salute to the people that crowded the street. Then for a 
moment he glanced up at my window. I doubt that he saw 
me but he must have had a moment of reflection. Here was 
the home of the Edeljude who had diagnosed his mother's 
fatal cancer; here was the consulting room of the man who 
had treated his sisters; here was the place he had gone as a 
boy to have his minor ailments attended....

It was a brief moment, then the procession was gone....

.. Hitler established himself in the Weinzinger Hotel, particularly 
requesting an apartment with a view of the Bestling Mountain. 
This scene had been visible from the windows of his modest 
apartment where he had spent his boyhood....

The following day he called in a few old acquaintances: Oberhummer, 
a loyal party functionary; Kubitschek, the musician. Liedel the 
watchmaker; Dr. Huemer, his former history teacher. It was 
understandable that he couldn't ask me, a Jew, to such a meeting; 
yet he did inquire after me....

... Hitler arrived Saturday evening. Sunday he visited his mother's 
grave, and reviewed local Nazis as they marched before him... 
On Monday, Hitler departed for Vienna. ...

Reports about special treatment by Gestapo. Yellow star removed 
from home and office of Dr. Bloch. He also was allowed to remain
 in his apartment - did not have to vacate Linz - Mtter [sic] 
apparently handled "by Berlin"


00010385.GIF   Page 31


about trying to get favor to take life savings with them:

... I knew that I could not see Adolf Hitler. Yet I felt that if I 
could get a message to him to would perhaps give us some help.

If Hitler himself was inaccessible perhaps one of his sisters 
would aid us. Klara was the nearest: she lived in Vienna. 
Her husband had died and she lived alone in a modest 
apartment in a quiet residential district. Plans were made 
for my daughter, Gertrude, to make the trip to Vienna to 
see her. She went to the apartment, knocked, but got no 
answer. Yet she was sure that there was someone at home.

She sought the aid of a neighbor. Frau Wolf - Klara Hitler - 
received no one, the neighbor said, except a few intimate 
friends. But this kind woman agreed to carry a message 
and report Frau Wolf's reply. My daughter waited. Soon 
the answer came back. Frau Wolf sent greetings and would 
do whatever she could. By good fortune Hitler was in Vienna 
that night for one of his frequent but unheralded visits to the
 opera. Frau Wold saw him and , I feel sure, gave him the 
message. But no exception was made in our case....

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