Liberation of Europe

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Jack’s next assignment was to immediately report to Munich, Germany and take over the B.M.W. plant, where his outfit would rebuild tanks for the Allied Forces (Jack Nemerov, We Remember History Oral Interview).

During his inspection of the plant, he was taken aback by the fact that the foreman acted as if he was oblivious to the monstrosities that were going on in their country (Jack Nemerov, We Remember History Oral Interview). This caused Jack to become furious because he knew it was impossible for such an intelligent and crafted population to be that ignorant. He was enraged, and this experience gave him the inclination to educate people who claimed to be unaware of the Nazis’ actions. Jack knew of a camp just ten miles away and thought the best form of education would be to have them see it for themselves.

Jack assembled a small detachment of Hebrew-speaking soldiers along with a few personnel from the B.M.W. plant to go into Dachau extermination camp (Jack Nemerov, We Remember History Oral Interview). This was about two months after this camp was taken by elements of the 42nd Infantry Division (Jack Nemerov, We Remember History Oral Interview). When he entered the camp, the first thing he noticed was the powerful odor. He described it as “a mix of the lack of sanitation, the odor of blood all over the place, burning human flesh and bone altogether,” (Jack Nemerov, We Remember History Oral Interview). The second thing that hit him was the surviving inmates that he saw there. They were full-grown men weighing only 80-90 pounds that could hardly stand on their own. The inmates were still dressed in the filthy striped prison uniforms they had been forced to wear. Lastly, he was completely taken aback by the sight of a pile of naked human corpses, approximately 10 feet high (Jack Nemerov, We Remember History Oral Interview). The images that were burned into his mind during this trip remained with Jack for the rest of his life.

The war in Europe ended in May 1945. It was decided that production would continue for at least another six months (Jack Nemerov, WWII Memoir). By this time, Jack had been promoted to Captain. He returned to Paris where he was informed that he was to await his orders to be transferred once again. This was upsetting to Jack because he had repeatedly requested to be rotated back to the United States yet, these requests were continuously ignored (Jack Nemerov, WWII Memoir). Fortunately, the surrender of Japan came in September of 1945, canceling all further transfer orders. This was a relief for Jack. A point system was put in place and Jack patiently awaited his orders to go home per his accumulation of points (Jack Nemerov, WWII Memoir).