Tribute to Claude Bloch, Holocaust survivor, who passed away on December 31, 2023

Portrait of Claude Bloch Photo Jean-Marc Lebaz, 2015, © Shoah Memorial

Born on the 1st^er November 1928 in Lyon, he was raised by his mother Eliette Meyer. He lived at 46 rue Franklin, in the same building as his maternal grandparents. His mother was dismissed in 1940 from the prefecture of Lyon under the "status of Jews." Claude attended high school at La Martinière.

Claude Bloch was arrested by Paul Touvier, the head of the Milice in Lyon, on 29 June 1944 with his mother and grandfather at Crépieux-la-Pape in the Rhône, where the family took refuge. His grandfather died during his interrogation by the Gestapo.  Claude, aged 15, and his mother were interned in Montluc prison, transferred on 20 July to the Drancy camp and deported on 31 July by convoy no. 77 to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. His mother was murdered. He was assigned to the Auschwitz I camp in an earthmoving commando. During the winter of 1944, he was evacuated to the Stutthof camp where he worked in a factory. He was finally released and taken in charge by the Swedish Red Cross on 10 May 1945 during another evacuation, this time by boat to northern Germany.

Claude Bloch was taken to Sweden where he gradually recovered for two months. He returned to France and his grandmother in Lyon on 22 July 1945.

Claude Bloch is a prominent figure in memory of Lyon, member of many associations including the Union of Auschwitz deportees and the AFMA. He is a knight of the Legion of Honor and a commander of the Academic Palms.

The Shoah Memorial pays tribute to the memory of Claude Bloch, humble and tireless witness of the internment and deportation, and presents its sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Review the testimony of Claude Bloch, deported from France, survivor (2016)