Peter Rafael Bloch
Encyclopedia
Peter Rafael Bloch was a historian, writer and journalist and an expert of Puerto Rican Music and Art. He was fluent in four languages. Living in New York since 1949, he kept in contact with his home town Frankfurt am Main which he frequently visited in the last 14 years of his life. As time witness of the Third Reich he tirelessly spoke to the students of his former high school (Woehlerschule), and gave lectures and interviews in numerous Frankfurt institutions.
(1848–1926) was a pioneer in modern urological and renal surgery in Berlin. Peter lived with his family in Lindenstrasse 39 in the Westend of Frankfurt am Main, surrounded by great works of art, rare books and antique furniture that - packed for shipping - were confiscated by NS authorities in Rotterdam in 1944 and never recovered.
His father Dr. med. Arthur Bloch - a former assistant of his grandfather's - was Senior urological consultant in a Frankfurt hospital before he was dismissed in 1933 due to the NS laws.
In 1939 Peter Bloch graduated from the Philanthropin, a renowned Jewish high school in Frankfurt am Main which he had attended since 1936 after being forced to leave his former high school "Woehler Realgymnasium" (today Woehlerschule), then in the Frankfurt Westend.
In spring 1939, some weeks after graduating, Peter Bloch emigrated to England.
In 1939, while he stayed in London, his parents had to go into exile in Belgium. England had offered exile to his father, but not to the family which also included Luise Foelsche, called "Lite", his mother Else Bloch's nanny and companion since the 1890s). England's offer of asylum was rejected and in late August 1939 Peter Bloch joined his family in Belgium. He started to study History at the University of Brussels. After the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940, he joined the underground resistance and handed out summaries of BBC radio broadcasts. If found out, he would have faced certain death.
By the summer of 1942 a time of terror began for the Jews in Belgium. In June 1942 a warning came from the Jewish Council in Brussels of Peter's imminent deportation. His father bought him a false identity card bearing the name Pierre Boulanger. When his parents received the written order for his deportation on July 16, 1942, Peter had already crossed the Franco-Swiss border with a smuggler on July 11, 1942. In Belgium his parents found separate hiding-places. On August 13, 1943, his father was captured by the Gestapo
and on the same day hanged by the SS in the Dossin Barracks (transit camp) at Mechelen
.
By 1944, Bloch was anxious to return to his mother and Luise Foelsche who had been paralyzed by a stroke in 1943. Mother and son reunited in Brussels on May 30, 1945; unfortunately their beloved "Lite" had died two weeks earlier. In his book When I was Pierre Boulanger Peter Bloch said: Today it still hurts me that I did not see her (Lite) again. She had wanted so much for me to come back in time. My mother used to refer to the three of us as 'Three birds on a perch' in World War II - and our closeness to each other, which is everlasting. Now there's only one melancholy bird left on the Perch.
His mother having instilled the tradition of respect, admiration and pride which Spanish Jews feel for Hispanic culture made it natural for Peter Bloch to get immersed in Puerto Rican life in New York. Josephine Burgos, a cousin of Julia De Burgos, acquainted him with the community at large and with her own family. In an interview ("Daily News", 1974) he said: I heard a lot of foolish and dangerous talk about them, even from other minorities who should know better. I felt it important to tell their story, why? Because no one else would. Bloch believed that what the Puerto Ricans needed most was a sense of their own worth as heirs to a rich culture, that they had every reason to be proud of their heritage. In his book, La-Le-Lo-Lai - Puerto Rican music and its performers, he advised: For those who want to acquire some notions about the contribution to the civilization of the Americas and of the Hispanic nations Puerto Rican Music is one of the best venues of approach; for the message of music is universal, cosmic, and transcends any language barrier. He said, Whenever I visit Puerto Rico I feel as if it were my own country.
With great affection, devotion and without remuneration Peter Bloch produced concerts, recitals, poetry readings, radio programs (WNYCAM), pioneered art exhibitions (New York & Germany), wrote books and articles for countless magazines, established a Puerto Rican Library & Museum at La Hermosa Christian Church, founded the "Association for Puerto Rican - Hispanic Culture" (1965) and the "Rafael Hernandez Festival" (1967). Peter Bloch was named Trustee of the Alfred Fahndrich Santos Collection. This Collection was on exhibition at the Museum of Hispanic Contemporary Art, and now resides at Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College of the City University of New York. For his selfless advocacy on behalf of the Puerto Rican - Hispanic Culture, Peter Bloch was honoured frequently. In 1955 he was honoured by the League of Belgian and allied Patriots. He also received 3 recognition awards from Boricua College. He was also the recipient of the Key to the Capital City of San Juan Puerto Rico (1964), was made a Knight of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (1969) and was awarded the Gold Medal from Societé Academique Fondée En 1915 Paris France "Arts-Sciences-Lettres" (1985).
Peter Bloch was the United States representative of the Academic Society "Arts-Sciences-Lettres" of Paris. He lectured at universities in Madrid, Venezuela and throughout North and South America. He was also a writer for "Poesia Magazine" and a judge for the ACE Awards.
Goethe and Albert Schweitzer
were influences on Peter Bloch's formation. He used to refer to Goethe as the poet of German thought. He embraced Schweitzer's postulate that civilization and culture are the same - that culture is an ethical value.
La-Le-Lo-Lai - Puerto Rican Music and its Performers (1973).
Foreword by historian and Puerto Rican poet Vincente Geigel Polanco.
Painting and Sculpture of the Puerto Ricans (1975).
Foreword by Puerto Rican governor Luis A. Ferre.
Music of the Hispanic Antilles, Dominican Republic, Cuba & Puerto Rico (1981).
Foreword by Jesus Maria Sanroma, Puerto Rico's foremost musician, pianist.
James Israel 1848-1926 (1983)
Once Grandes Pintores (Eleven Great Painters) - De Van Eyck a Chagall (1987)
The Emilia Conde Story - A dramatized biography in concert (1991, 2nd ed. 1994)
La-Le-Lo-Lai - The Story of Puerto Rican Music (2000)
When I was Pierre Boulanger, 1942 - A diary in times of terror (2002)
Figures of My Century (2006).
Based on articles published in "Arbeiter-Zeitung", Switzerland, and the "Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts-Geographie", Pick-Verlag Hagen (Westf) Germany, and from personal correspondence.
Meine Lehrer (2008)
Luchando en Pro de la Cultura Hispanica en Nueva York (1976).
10 page article on conference given in Madrid.
The Franco Era, A historical evaluation (1976)
5 essays originally published in the literary magazine "Unveiling Cuba" (1983–1985)
La Critica de la Critica. Criticism about the Critics (1983)
The Multi-Ethnic Character of the Hispanic Civilization in Spain and Hispano-America (1986)
1492 - From a Distant Star (1991)
Wie ich das Pogrom erlebte. In: ... dass wir nicht erwünscht waren. Novemberpogrom 1938 in Frankfurt am Main. Berichte und Dokumente (1993)
"Auf wundersame Weise dem Tode entronnen ..." (1994). Peter Bloch (New York) im Historischen Museum Frankfurt am Main.
The History and Culture of Puerto Rico (1996)
I Met a Legend: General MacArthur (1996)
Two Great Puerto Rican Composers - Juan Morel Campos, Rafael Hernández (1997)
Emilia Conde - A memoir (2000)
Sefarad. Die spanischen Juden des Mittelalters und ihre Kultur (2000)
Der Salon meiner Mutter - Erinnerungen (2001); English translation: My Mother's Salon - Recollections (2011)
In Frankfurt am Main (1921-1939)
Peter Bloch was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to a family of medical doctors and Spanish-Jewish scholars. His grandfather James IsraelJames Israel
James Adolf Israel was a German surgeon who was a native of Berlin. In 1870 he received his medical doctorate from Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität. He studied under von Bernhard Rudolf Konrad von Langenbeck and Ludwig Traube...
(1848–1926) was a pioneer in modern urological and renal surgery in Berlin. Peter lived with his family in Lindenstrasse 39 in the Westend of Frankfurt am Main, surrounded by great works of art, rare books and antique furniture that - packed for shipping - were confiscated by NS authorities in Rotterdam in 1944 and never recovered.
His father Dr. med. Arthur Bloch - a former assistant of his grandfather's - was Senior urological consultant in a Frankfurt hospital before he was dismissed in 1933 due to the NS laws.
In 1939 Peter Bloch graduated from the Philanthropin, a renowned Jewish high school in Frankfurt am Main which he had attended since 1936 after being forced to leave his former high school "Woehler Realgymnasium" (today Woehlerschule), then in the Frankfurt Westend.
In spring 1939, some weeks after graduating, Peter Bloch emigrated to England.
In England and Belgium (1939-1942)
Peter Bloch studied Hispanic history and culture since his youth. His art teacher considered him a most promising student. However, it was his very love of art that made him realize that he was not called upon to be a painter, but a writer.In 1939, while he stayed in London, his parents had to go into exile in Belgium. England had offered exile to his father, but not to the family which also included Luise Foelsche, called "Lite", his mother Else Bloch's nanny and companion since the 1890s). England's offer of asylum was rejected and in late August 1939 Peter Bloch joined his family in Belgium. He started to study History at the University of Brussels. After the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940, he joined the underground resistance and handed out summaries of BBC radio broadcasts. If found out, he would have faced certain death.
By the summer of 1942 a time of terror began for the Jews in Belgium. In June 1942 a warning came from the Jewish Council in Brussels of Peter's imminent deportation. His father bought him a false identity card bearing the name Pierre Boulanger. When his parents received the written order for his deportation on July 16, 1942, Peter had already crossed the Franco-Swiss border with a smuggler on July 11, 1942. In Belgium his parents found separate hiding-places. On August 13, 1943, his father was captured 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...
and on the same day hanged by the SS in the Dossin Barracks (transit camp) at Mechelen
Mechelen
Mechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived...
.
In Switzerland (July 1942 - May 1945)
By correspondence his parents had mobilized all their Swiss connections in Peter's favour. He was granted asylum and interned. Eventually he was allowed to study in the University of Geneva. However, during vacations he had to return to a labour camp. In the book When I was Pierre Boulanger, Peter Bloch recalled, The conditions of internment were very bad in Bellechasse prison and better in the labor camps where the Swiss used refugees as slave labor.By 1944, Bloch was anxious to return to his mother and Luise Foelsche who had been paralyzed by a stroke in 1943. Mother and son reunited in Brussels on May 30, 1945; unfortunately their beloved "Lite" had died two weeks earlier. In his book When I was Pierre Boulanger Peter Bloch said: Today it still hurts me that I did not see her (Lite) again. She had wanted so much for me to come back in time. My mother used to refer to the three of us as 'Three birds on a perch' in World War II - and our closeness to each other, which is everlasting. Now there's only one melancholy bird left on the Perch.
In New York (1949-2008)
Peter Bloch arrived in New York with his mother Else Israel Bloch (1891–1988) in 1949. His half-brother Werner Czapski (1912–1972), an engineer afflicted with MS, joined them later. Bloch earned a living writing for European newspapers and became a U.S. citizen in 1955.His mother having instilled the tradition of respect, admiration and pride which Spanish Jews feel for Hispanic culture made it natural for Peter Bloch to get immersed in Puerto Rican life in New York. Josephine Burgos, a cousin of Julia De Burgos, acquainted him with the community at large and with her own family. In an interview ("Daily News", 1974) he said: I heard a lot of foolish and dangerous talk about them, even from other minorities who should know better. I felt it important to tell their story, why? Because no one else would. Bloch believed that what the Puerto Ricans needed most was a sense of their own worth as heirs to a rich culture, that they had every reason to be proud of their heritage. In his book, La-Le-Lo-Lai - Puerto Rican music and its performers, he advised: For those who want to acquire some notions about the contribution to the civilization of the Americas and of the Hispanic nations Puerto Rican Music is one of the best venues of approach; for the message of music is universal, cosmic, and transcends any language barrier. He said, Whenever I visit Puerto Rico I feel as if it were my own country.
With great affection, devotion and without remuneration Peter Bloch produced concerts, recitals, poetry readings, radio programs (WNYCAM), pioneered art exhibitions (New York & Germany), wrote books and articles for countless magazines, established a Puerto Rican Library & Museum at La Hermosa Christian Church, founded the "Association for Puerto Rican - Hispanic Culture" (1965) and the "Rafael Hernandez Festival" (1967). Peter Bloch was named Trustee of the Alfred Fahndrich Santos Collection. This Collection was on exhibition at the Museum of Hispanic Contemporary Art, and now resides at Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College of the City University of New York. For his selfless advocacy on behalf of the Puerto Rican - Hispanic Culture, Peter Bloch was honoured frequently. In 1955 he was honoured by the League of Belgian and allied Patriots. He also received 3 recognition awards from Boricua College. He was also the recipient of the Key to the Capital City of San Juan Puerto Rico (1964), was made a Knight of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (1969) and was awarded the Gold Medal from Societé Academique Fondée En 1915 Paris France "Arts-Sciences-Lettres" (1985).
Peter Bloch was the United States representative of the Academic Society "Arts-Sciences-Lettres" of Paris. He lectured at universities in Madrid, Venezuela and throughout North and South America. He was also a writer for "Poesia Magazine" and a judge for the ACE Awards.
Goethe and Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...
were influences on Peter Bloch's formation. He used to refer to Goethe as the poet of German thought. He embraced Schweitzer's postulate that civilization and culture are the same - that culture is an ethical value.
Books
All of Bloch's written works are currently out of print.La-Le-Lo-Lai - Puerto Rican Music and its Performers (1973).
Foreword by historian and Puerto Rican poet Vincente Geigel Polanco.
Painting and Sculpture of the Puerto Ricans (1975).
Foreword by Puerto Rican governor Luis A. Ferre.
Music of the Hispanic Antilles, Dominican Republic, Cuba & Puerto Rico (1981).
Foreword by Jesus Maria Sanroma, Puerto Rico's foremost musician, pianist.
James Israel 1848-1926 (1983)
Once Grandes Pintores (Eleven Great Painters) - De Van Eyck a Chagall (1987)
The Emilia Conde Story - A dramatized biography in concert (1991, 2nd ed. 1994)
La-Le-Lo-Lai - The Story of Puerto Rican Music (2000)
When I was Pierre Boulanger, 1942 - A diary in times of terror (2002)
Figures of My Century (2006).
Based on articles published in "Arbeiter-Zeitung", Switzerland, and the "Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts-Geographie", Pick-Verlag Hagen (Westf) Germany, and from personal correspondence.
Meine Lehrer (2008)
Essays
Great Writers and the Problems of the 20th CenturyLuchando en Pro de la Cultura Hispanica en Nueva York (1976).
10 page article on conference given in Madrid.
The Franco Era, A historical evaluation (1976)
5 essays originally published in the literary magazine "Unveiling Cuba" (1983–1985)
La Critica de la Critica. Criticism about the Critics (1983)
The Multi-Ethnic Character of the Hispanic Civilization in Spain and Hispano-America (1986)
1492 - From a Distant Star (1991)
Wie ich das Pogrom erlebte. In: ... dass wir nicht erwünscht waren. Novemberpogrom 1938 in Frankfurt am Main. Berichte und Dokumente (1993)
"Auf wundersame Weise dem Tode entronnen ..." (1994). Peter Bloch (New York) im Historischen Museum Frankfurt am Main.
The History and Culture of Puerto Rico (1996)
I Met a Legend: General MacArthur (1996)
Two Great Puerto Rican Composers - Juan Morel Campos, Rafael Hernández (1997)
Emilia Conde - A memoir (2000)
Sefarad. Die spanischen Juden des Mittelalters und ihre Kultur (2000)
Der Salon meiner Mutter - Erinnerungen (2001); English translation: My Mother's Salon - Recollections (2011)
External links
- Jose Acosta: Peter Bloch, His Legend Will Live On. In: Hispanic Arts, February 23, 2010: http://artid.com/members/hispanic_arts/blog/post/3705-peter-bloch-his-legend-will-live-on
- Obituary notice. In: The New York Times, August 3, 2008: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7D9143AF930A3575BC0A96E9C8B63
- Jose Acosta: Happy Birthday Peter Bloch. In: Hispanic Arts, October 19, 2010: http://artid.com/members/hispanic_arts/blog/post/4773
- Interview with Peter Bloch in Spanish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4vsa2tz8K0
- The Association of Latin Entertainment Critics (Asociación de Cronistas de Espectáculos de Nueva York, in Spanish): http://premiosace.org/index.htm
- http://www.worldcat.org/title/painting-and-sculpture-of-the-puerto-ricans/oclc/3560515