Marcel Ferdinand Bloch: A Giant of Aviation

Dassault: The Birth of the Mirage

Marcel Bloch, born to Jewish parents in France in 1892, rose to become a world leader in aviation, especially in France. He attended the same school as Mikhail Gurevich and began his career in World War I by founding a French airplane company. In World War II he was imprisoned for refusing to collaborate with the Nazis, then severely beaten and tortured. He barely survived the war; upon liberation doctors urged him to make final preparations for death. Contrary to their pessimism he recovered, later converted to Catholicism, changed his surname to Dassault, and founded the company known today as Dassault Aviation. From that firm have come some of the most iconic fighter aircraft, including the Dassault Mirage delta-wing series still flying today. Having endured the horrors of Buchenwald, he lived on to shape the world. Valor is in you. Set it free.