Rolf Bloch, a former leader of Swiss Jews and a chocolate factory owner, died last week. He was 84.

Block was a key figure during neg­otiations in the 1990s for compensation from the Swiss government for Holocaust assets. He was commemorated at a memorial service in Bern on May 31, the Tachles Swiss Jewish weekly reported.

A former president of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, Bloch took over his family chocolate business, Camille Bloch, in 1970.

Bloch represented the interests of the Swiss people and Jewish communities in negotiations with the government over compensation for Jewish assets that Swiss financial entities seized after their owners were killed in the Holocaust.

Many Holocaust victims had taken out life insurance policies and deposited money and gold with Swiss banks because of Switzerland’s reputation as a banking powerhouse. — jta

 

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