The Irony in History

Nick Fuentas recently referred in his interview with Piers Morgan to Adolph Hitler as a "cool guy". I wonder if these Aryan Neo nazi types who hate Jews realize the truth about Hitler.

Do they know a well-known, profound irony of history due to Hitler's later antisemitism and the Holocaust of the relationship Hiler had with Dr. Eduard Bloch, the Jewish doctor who treated Adolf Hitler's mother, Klara Hitler, for breast cancer until her death in 1907?

Dr. Bloch was a highly respected physician in Linz, Austria, known as the "poor people's doctor" for often reducing or waiving fees for his indigent patients, including the Hitler family.

He treated Klara Hitler in 1907 who was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Dr. Bloch oversaw her care, which included a mastectomy and a then-common, but extremely painful, chemotherapy-like treatment using daily applications of iodoform gauze directly to the wound.or breast cancer, a painful and ultimately fatal illness. 

Klara died in December of that year.The young Adolf Hitler was reportedly devastated by his mother's suffering and death.

Dr. Bloch later recalled that he had never seen anyone so distraught with grief. Bloch described young Adolf as a "respectful, well-mannered, quiet, and neatly dressed boy" who seemed characterized by a "certain inwardness—a strangeness... he was a lad who seemed to live within himself."

The most striking feature Bloch recalled was Adolf's profound love and devotion to his mother, Klara. He noted a strong familial bond, particularly between Adolf and his mother and sister.

Following his mother's death, Adolf visited Dr. Bloch, expressed his everlasting gratitude, and promised to remain thankful. 

In later years, he sent several postcards to Bloch reiterating his appreciation and his "everlasting thankfulness" to Dr. Bloch through postcards and handmade gifts.The Gestapo later seized these postcards in the 1930s, likely to suppress evidence of this relationship.

Decades later, after the Nazi annexation of Austria (the Anschluss), Dr. Bloch was subject to anti-Jewish laws. He reportedly wrote to Hitler asking for help, and Hitler is alleged to have intervened, referring to Bloch as an "Edeljude" (a noble Jew) and stating that if all Jews were like him, there would be no Jewish question.

In 1940, Bloch and his wife, Emilie, immigrated to the United States, settling in the Bronx, New York City, to join their daughter's family.

In March 1941, Dr. Bloch published a two-part essay in Collier’s Weekly titled "My Patient, Hitler." In it, he details young Adolf's "everlasting gratitude," his desolation at his mother's death, and the postcards he received.

It should be noted that within the context of the essay is particularly famous line where Bloch asks himself: 

"What does a doctor think when he sees one of his patients grow into the persecutor of his race?"

—a question that perfectly underscores the "profound irony" 

This video provides a concise historical overview of Dr. Eduard Bloch's unique relationship with the Hitler family and how he managed to survive the Holocaust through the dictator's personal intervention.

Works Cited:

Bloch, Eduard. "My Patient, Hitler." Collier’s Weekly, vol. 107, no. 11, 15 Mar. 1941, pp. 11-39.

Geheran, Michael. Comrades Betrayed: Jewish World War I Veterans Under Hitler. Cornell University Press, 2020.

Hamann, Brigitte. Hitler's Noble Jew: The Life and World of Eduard Bloch, Joseph Stalin, and the Other Doctors Who Treated the Dictators. Translated by Alan Bance, I.B. Tauris, 2008.

"Hugo Gutmann." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, www.ushmm.org. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

"Jewish Veterans in the German Army." Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, lbi.org/collections/jewish-veterans-german-army/. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.

Marmor, David. "Dr. Eduard Bloch: The Physician Who Treated Hitler’s Mother." Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal, vol. 3, no. 2, Apr. 2012, doi:10.5041/RMMJ.10072.

Weber, Thomas. Hitler's First War: Adolf Hitler, the Men of the List Regiment, and the First World War. Oxford University Press, 2010.