Jack Nemerov was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on September 17, 1917. He was raised in a Jewish family of four. Growing up, he spent most of his time attending school and working for his father's hat company.

Jack volunteered for service at the age of 25 in December of 1941, one day after Pearl Harbor was attacked. He was enlisted into the army the following month and called to active duty in April of 1942. Jack spent his first few months in basic training at Camp Sutton, North Carolina and Camp Perry, Ohio. He was then assigned to help form the 9th Armored Division in Fort Riley, Kansas. From there, Jack attended and graduated from Officer Candidate School in Aberdeen Maryland. Jack spent the following two years creating assembly lines to rebuild engines in Georgia, California, and England. The assembly lines he put together turned out to be very successful at each location he was transported to.

Jack was overseas from February of 1944 to June of 1946. During this time, he experienced life-changing events. In June of 1944, Jack survived the landing at Omaha Beach. The following year, he helped to liberate Dachau Concentration Camp. After spending four years in the service, Jack was rotated back to the States with the rank of Captain.

Soon after he returned to Minneapolis, Jack married his first wife and became a father to four sons. He worked as a manufacturer’s representative until he retired and moved to Sun City, Arizona in 1982. A few years later, Jack began traveling to high schools throughout the Valley, educating students about his experiences at Dachau and teaching what tolerance and hate could do to a society. This was the first time in fifty years that he had spoken publicly about the events. Jack continued to take part in this organization as well as many other powerful programs for around twenty years. Although Jack passed away in May of 2015, he will continue to be remembered for the amazing life he led and the inspirational man he was.

Now travel back in time to take the same journey that Jacko had during World War II. Learn more about the places and people that Jack interacted with during the war.