Email address of my Apple ID is obsolete and blocked by Apple.

I tried restoring my 10 year old Ipad 3 and it is asking me for the login with the ID the device was registered with, which has been blocked by Apple. I called yesterday to get help resetting it, but there was no help. I explained that the email address associated with my Apple ID is obsolete. I was told that they couldn´t change it without proof of purchase for an Ipad that is 10+ years old. I explained that it was a promotional give away from a bank where I no longer have an account. The agent insisted that I contact the bank to get proof of THEIR purchase of the device they gave me, and call back. She said she would email me with a case number to call back, at which time they would elevate my issue to a "higher level." I never received the case number and the idea that I would have to call back to tell her the bank thought I was crazy for asking, is absurd. The device is mine and has been since it was new. The idea that a device now worth maybe 1€ would be stolen is even more absurd.