Rudolf Bock was a medical student in Vienna when Germany annexed Austria in 1938.  Germany’s Nuremburg Laws were immediately applied to Austria, stripping all Jews of their citizenship.  Although raised a Catholic, Bock’s grandparents were Jewish and in November he received word that he would not be able to finish medical school – he was 4 exams short of earning his M.D.

One month later, after the arrest of several family members, Rudolf Bock’s uncle was able to provide him and his brother with phony work papers which allowed them to enter Japan as refugees.  In January 1939, Bock was accepted at the Peiping Union Medical College (PUMC) in Peking, China.  Dr. Peter Kronfeld, a visiting professor in ophthalmology, helped secure his acceptance at the school, but Dr. Bock had to agree to learn Chinese in order take the necessary oral exams. Bock left his brother in Japan to finish his studies in China.

Just over one year later, Dr. Bock had earned his medical degree and began his residency in ophthalmology, but after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Japanese army moved in and closed the doors of PUMC and its hospital.  This action forced Dr. Bock to work in charity eye clinics and create a small ophthalmic practice in order to support himself.  It was not until the end of the war when Dr. Bock learned of the death of his father and other family members who could not escape Austria.

In 1947 Dr. Bock and his family were allowed to return to Europe.  Because his ophthalmic training was technically incomplete, he decided to move back to Vienna and finish his Austrian medical degree and ophthalmic training.  During this time, he started to apply for a visa to immigrate to the United States, which was finally granted in 1951.  Dr. Bock eventually settled in California and opened a private ophthalmic practice.

Photos this page:
1. Letter to Rudolf H. Bock Denying Continuation of Medical Studies, Ministry of Education, Austria, 1938.  Archives of the American Academy of Ophthalmology

2. Graduation of Rudolf H. Bock, MD from the Peiping Union Medical College (PUMC) in Peking, China, 1940. Archives of the American Academy of Ophthalmology