Denise Bloch
Encyclopedia
Denise Madeleine Bloch was a French secret agent working with the British Special Operations Executive
in World War II
.
. As the family were Jewish, they were rounded up by the Gestapo
in 1942 in occupied France.
Jean Maxime Aron (code name 'Joseph') who was also a Jewish Resistance
leader in France.
Bloch was recruited in Lyon
to work for the Special Operations Executive
(SOE). She began resistance work with SOE radio operator Brian Stonehouse
until his arrest near the end of October that year.
Following Stonehouse's capture, she went into hiding until early 1943 when she was put in touch with SOE agents George Reginald Starr
and Philippe de Vomécourt. She began working with them in the town of Agen
in the Lot-et-Garonne
département in the south of France. However, it was decided to send her to London
and accompanied by another agent, she walked across the Pyrenees mountains
making their way to Gibraltar
and eventually London. There, SOE trained her as a wireless operator in preparation for a return to France.
On 2 March 1944, with fellow SOE agent, Robert Benoist
, she was dropped back into central France. Working in the Nantes
area, they re-established contact with SOE agent and Benoist's fellow race car driver, Jean-Pierre Wimille
. However, in June, both she and Benoist were arrested and Bloch was interrogated and tortured before being shipped to Germany
. She was held in prisons at Torgau
in Saxony
and at Königsberg
in Brandenburg
, where she suffered great hardship from exposure, cold, and malnutrition.
Eventually shipped to Ravensbrück concentration camp
, sometime between 25 January 1945 and 5 February 1945, 29-year-old Denise Madeleine Bloch was executed by the Germans and her body disposed of in the crematorium. Both Lilian Rolfe
and Violette Szabo
, two other female members of the SOE held at Ravensbrück, were executed at or about the same time. In May, just days before the German surrender, SOE agent Cecily Lefort
was also executed at Ravensbrück. It is alleged that SS-Sturmbannführer Horst Kopkow
was involved in the arrest/killing of these SOE agents.
Denise Bloch's family gravesite at the Montmartre Cemetery
in Paris memorializes her life and execution.
. She was posthumously awarded the "King's Commendation for Brave Conduct" by Great Britain
.
In France, posthumous honors include the Legion of Honor
; the Médaille combattant de la Résistance
, and the Croix de Guerre avec Palme
.
As one of the SOE agents who died for the liberation of France, she is listed on the "Roll of Honor" on the Valençay SOE Memorial
in the town of Valençay
, in the Indre
département of France.
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Early life
Born to a Jewish family (Jacques Henri Bloch and Suzanne Levi-Strauss) in Barrault, Paris, France in 1916; Bloch had three brothers. Before the war, she was a secretary at CitroenCitroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
. As the family were Jewish, they were rounded up by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
in 1942 in occupied France.
Special Operations Executive
Her job at Citroen was as secretary to LieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Jean Maxime Aron (code name 'Joseph') who was also a Jewish Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
leader in France.
Bloch was recruited in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
to work for the Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
(SOE). She began resistance work with SOE radio operator Brian Stonehouse
Brian Stonehouse
Brian Julian Stonehouse MBE was a British painter and Special Operations Executive agent during World War II.He was born in Torquay, England. When his family moved to France, he went to school in Wimereux, Pas-de-Calais...
until his arrest near the end of October that year.
Following Stonehouse's capture, she went into hiding until early 1943 when she was put in touch with SOE agents George Reginald Starr
George Reginald Starr
George Reginald Starr DSO MC was a British mining engineer and one of the Special Operations Executive's best secret agents during World War II.-Early life:...
and Philippe de Vomécourt. She began working with them in the town of Agen
Agen
Agen is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in Aquitaine in south-western France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. It is the capital of the department.-Economy:The town has a higher level of unemployment than the national average...
in the Lot-et-Garonne
Lot-et-Garonne
Lot-et-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot and Garonne rivers.-History:Lot-et-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
département in the south of France. However, it was decided to send her to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and accompanied by another agent, she walked across the Pyrenees mountains
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
making their way to Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
and eventually London. There, SOE trained her as a wireless operator in preparation for a return to France.
On 2 March 1944, with fellow SOE agent, Robert Benoist
Robert Benoist
Robert Marcel Charles Benoist was a French Grand Prix motor racing driver and war hero.-Early life:Born near Rambouillet, Île-de-France, France, Robert Benoist was the son of Baron Henri de Rothschild's gamekeeper...
, she was dropped back into central France. Working in the Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
area, they re-established contact with SOE agent and Benoist's fellow race car driver, Jean-Pierre Wimille
Jean-Pierre Wimille
Jean-Pierre Wimille was a Grand Prix motor racing driver and a member of the French Resistance during World War II.-Biography:...
. However, in June, both she and Benoist were arrested and Bloch was interrogated and tortured before being shipped to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. She was held in prisons at Torgau
Torgau
Torgau is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen.Outside Germany, the town is most well known as the place where during the Second World War, United States Army forces coming from the west met with forces of the Soviet Union...
in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
and at Königsberg
Chojna
Chojna is a small town in western Poland in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It lies approximately 60 km south of Szczecin and participates in the Douzelage....
in Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
, where she suffered great hardship from exposure, cold, and malnutrition.
Eventually shipped to Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück was a notorious women's concentration camp during World War II, located in northern Germany, 90 km north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück ....
, sometime between 25 January 1945 and 5 February 1945, 29-year-old Denise Madeleine Bloch was executed by the Germans and her body disposed of in the crematorium. Both Lilian Rolfe
Lilian Rolfe
Lilian Vera Rolfe was an Allied secret agent in World War II.-Early life:...
and Violette Szabo
Violette Szabo
Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell Szabo, GC, was a Second World War French-British secret agent.-Early life and marriage:...
, two other female members of the SOE held at Ravensbrück, were executed at or about the same time. In May, just days before the German surrender, SOE agent Cecily Lefort
Cecily Lefort
Cecily Lefort was a British SOE agent, during World War II.-Early life:Born as Cecily Margot MacKenzie in London of Scottish ancestry, she lived on the coast of Brittany in France from the age of 24 with her French husband, Dr...
was also executed at Ravensbrück. It is alleged that SS-Sturmbannführer Horst Kopkow
Horst Kopkow
Horst Kopkow was a Nazi Germany SS major who worked for German Security police and, after the war, was concealed by British intelligence so that they could use his knowledge in the Cold War.During World War II, Kopkow served in German national security police headquarters in Berlin...
was involved in the arrest/killing of these SOE agents.
Denise Bloch's family gravesite at the Montmartre Cemetery
Montmartre Cemetery
Montmartre Cemetery is a cemetery in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France.-History:Cemeteries had been banned from Paris since the shutting down of the Cimetière des Innocents in 1786, as they presented health hazards...
in Paris memorializes her life and execution.
Posthumous awards
In England, Bloch is recorded on the Brookwood Memorial in SurreySurrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. She was posthumously awarded the "King's Commendation for Brave Conduct" by Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
In France, posthumous honors include the Legion of Honor
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
; the Médaille combattant de la Résistance
Médaille de la Résistance
The French Médaille de la Résistance was awarded by General Charles de Gaulle "to recognise the remarkable acts of faith and of courage that, in France, in the empire and abroad, have contributed to the resistance of the French people against the enemy and against its accomplices since June 18,...
, and the Croix de Guerre avec Palme
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
.
As one of the SOE agents who died for the liberation of France, she is listed on the "Roll of Honor" on the Valençay SOE Memorial
Valençay SOE Memorial
The Valençay SOE Memorial is a monument to the members of the Special Operations Executive F Section who lost their lives for the liberation of France. The memorial was unveiled in the town of Valençay in the Indre département of France on May 6, 1991, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the...
in the town of Valençay
Valençay
Valençay is a commune in the Indre department in central France.-Geography:Valençay is situated in the Loire Valley on a hillside overlooking the River Nahon.-History:...
, in the Indre
Indre
Indre is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.-History:Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
département of France.