The son of Melech (Max) and Sarah, Jack Klein was born in New York on 2nd June 1916. He was educated in a Jewish and Zionist atmosphere at a Hebrew school.
He joined the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement, quickly climbing to a position of responsibility and performing duties as an instructor. He was a good organizer.
His friends emigrated to Eretz Israel and he remained in New York, carrying out his duties in the movement. When the USA entered World War II he was mobilized into the military and served as a mechanic with the rank of corporal.
After years of service in the army, which included numerous transfers, he succeeded in getting his family – his mother, wife, and sons – to Eretz Israel as tourists. He himself failed to get past Greece on the same ship, as he lacked an entry permit from the British Mandate authorities in Palestine.
In 1947 he finally arrived via Greece on a refugee ship and joined the Hashomer Hatzair movement’s Kibbutz Hazor, experiencing the various difficulties of a newly-established kibbutz. He tried to the best he could to raise the standard of his trade in his kibbutz work.
As the War of Independence broke out, he served as a mechanic in the IDF during the massive Egyptian invasion in the south. On 30th May 1948, while laying mines around the perimeter of Kibbutz Kfar Menachem, a mine exploded in his hands.
He was buried at Kibbutz Hatzor. The kibbutz honored his memory in a booklet entitled “Jack.”
Source: Translated from the Yizkor website by Joe Woolf