Ensign Denise Madeleine BLOCH

(trained as Danielle WILLIAMS)

Denise Bloch was born on 21 January 1916 in Paris, the daughter of Jacques Henri Bloch and Suzanne Levi Bloch (née Strauss). When war broke out, her father and two of her three brothers served with the French Army. Her father and Jean-Louis were taken prisoner while Jean-Claude, released from the army due to illness, later joined the Résistance, to be followed by the youngest brother Jean-Pierre. The family moved from Paris to Lyon in July 1942 when life in the capital had become too dangerous for a Jewish family such as the Blochs, despite a change of name to Barrault.


In Lyon Denise worked as a secretary at the Citroën works for Jean Maxim Aron (JOSEPH) who was already active in the Résistance.  She was recruited to the same work by René Piercy (ETIENNE) and subsequently helped recruit a close friend, Dominique Mendelsohn (who she described as her fiancé, but only as a convenience to help their work together) to work with Aron. The latter’s group were in touch with F Section agent Captain Henri Sevenet (DETECTIVE/Rodolphe q.v.).........[Remainder of case study is complete - contact author for further details].


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