United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Curatorial Affairs Department
Dr. Ralph Bloch was the son of two physicians: Dr. Jacques Bloch M.D., a surgeon who spent most of that time in military service and Dr. Charlotte Bloch-Springer M.D. was a medical resident during the war. They resided in Zurich, Switzerland. In mid-1938 or early 1939 the Jewish Community of Zurich organized vacation programs for Jewish children from Southern Germany. Ingrid Billigheimer, born on September 5, 1928 in Eppingen near Karlsruhe, Germany participated in this program and spent a few weeks with the Bloch family in Zurich. Ingrid Billigheimer was the older daughter of Kurt and Irma Billigheimer (maiden name Hochherr). Their younger daughter Hannelore was born on October 28, 1929. At the end of 1938 the Billigheimer family moved to Furth. During Kristallnacht, Kurt Billigheimer avoided arrest because he was traveling on business. The Billigheimer family made efforts to immigrate to the United States, but to no avail. On October 22, 1940 in a sudden"Aktio" Kurt and Irma Billigheimer, their two daughters, Ingrid and Hannelore; Kurt's mother Melanie Billigheimer and Irma's parents: Moritz and Marie Hochherr were all deported from Karlsruhe to the Gurs internment camp in the south of France, near the Spanish border. Starting in October 1939 Ingrid started to write letters to the Bloch family in Zurich and her whole family joined her. The Bloch family was the only family they could write to and even though they didn't know them at all, they received food packages and letters from them. In March 1941, the Billigheimer family was transferred to the Rivesaltes internment camp. A few months later Kurt and his daughter Ingrid both became sick with jaundice and were hospitalized. The Bloch family carried on with their help and the Billigheimer family continued to write to them. In March 1942 Irma Billigheimer placed her two daughters in an OSE children’s home Le Couret near Limoges. On September 2, 1942, Irma took her daughters out Le Couret and on September 4, 1942 they were transferred to Drancy internment camp, near Paris. On September 11, 1942 Irma Billigheimer and her two daughters, Ingrid, 14 years-old and Hannelore, 13 years-old were deported on transport number 31 to Auschwitz-Birkenau and murdered on arrival. Kurt Billigheimer wrote his last postcard to the Bloch family on April 5, 1943. On December 7, 1943 he was deported to Auschwitz and from there he was transferred to the sub-camp of Monowitz; his prisoner number was 167467. Kurt Billigheimer died on February 13, 1944 in Monowitz - Auschwitz III. He was 46 years old. The only survivor of the family was Irma Billigheimer's mother - Marie Hochherr. She wrote a letter to Drs. Bloch in June 1945 in which she notified them of the fate of her daughter, two granddaughters and her son-in-law.
folder 1
Contains letters and postcards written by Ingrid and Hannelore Billigheimer, their parents Irma and Kurt Billigheimer, and grandmother, Marie Hochherr, from Fürth and Karlsruhe in Germany and later from Gurs and Rivesaltes internment camps in France, and from an OSE children’s home in Le Couret, dated October 29, 1939 to April 5, 1943; the last letter was written by Marie Hochherr on June 11, 1945. All the letters were addressed to Drs. Bloch in Zurich, Switzerland. Includes receipts for food packages sent by Dr. Charlotte Bloch to the Billigheimer family, and a copy photograph of a group portrait of children in the Jewish school in Karlsruhe, dated circa 1937, depicting Ingrid and Hannelore, among others.
Bloch family collection