John Kafka collection

John Kafka collection 

Dr. Eduard Bloch (1872-1945) was a Jewish medical doctor who practiced in Linz, Austria in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Eduard was born in Frauenberg (currently Hluboká nad Vltavou, Czech Republic) and had three sisters and one brother. He married Emilie Kafka (Emliy, 1875-1961, born Linz) in 1902 and they had a daughter, Gertrude Bloch (Trude, later Kren, 1903-1992, born in Austria). Eduard studied medicine in Prague and served as a medical officer in the Austrian Army. After his discharge in 1901, he opened a private practice in Linz. His patients included Adolf Hitler and his mother, Klara Hitler (1860-1907). Eduard treated Klara for breast cancer that eventually claimed her life and he served as the Hitler family doctor until 1907. Hitler expressed his gratitude for Eduard’s caring and professional treatment of his mother in postcards sent to Eduard prior to becoming Chancellor of Germany. After Germany's annexation of Austria, Eduard's medical practice was closed on October 1, 1938. Gertrude and her husband, Franz Kren (Frank, 1893-1976, born in Austria), immigrated to the United States in October 1938 aboard the SS Conte di Savoia. Their two children, George (1928-2000) and Joanne, were already in England and were soon reunited with their parents in America. After his practice was closed, Eduard wrote to Hitler and received special protection by the Gestapo. Eduard and Emilie were allowed to remain in their home until their immigration paperwork was finalized. In December 1940, they sailed aboard the SS Marqués de Comillas from Lisbon and arrived in the United States on January 8, 1941. They reunited with Gertrude and her family and settled in New York, but Eduard was no longer able to practice medicine because his medical degree was not recognized. John Kafka (born Hans in 1921) was born to Egon Kafka (?-1927) and Klara Braunschweig Woltar (born in Switzerland). Klara married Paul Woltar in 1910. Shortly after the birth of their daughter, Grete (b. 1913) Paul died. In 1919 Klara married Egon Kafka and moved to Linz, Austria. Egon passed away in 1927. In the mid-1930s John was sent to a boarding school in France on the advice of his uncle, who felt that Austria had become unsafe for Jews. After two years John moved in with his Aunt Bertha Braunschweig in Strasbourg. Klara joined her son in 1938. After the German invasion of France in 1940, Klara and John moved to central France before immigrating to the United States in March 1941. John was Eduard Bloch’s nephew. Eduard helped raise John after his father’s death in 1927. 

John Kafka collection