Jack Marcus could have died on the day in 1939 when the Nazis rounded up all the Jews in his hometown in Poland and executed everyone
He could have died as a prisoner at Auschwitz or Dachau
or he could have lost his life on a death march in the ending months of World War II
his photo snapped by a passer-by and printed decades later in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
But Marcus was a survivor — one of the few Jews still alive in Europe at the end of the war — and he dedicated his life to telling others his story
"He went from being afraid of being caught by the Nazis to feeling very committed to the world knowing this story," said his son
And before his left forearm was tattooed by the Nazis
a boy growing up in the small town of Radziejow
his mother gave him a small bag of food and told him to flee
Marcus initially refused but relented at his mother's insistence
"You can imagine how painful it was for her to push her only son out
but she wanted him to have a future," said Leonard Marcus
His parents and the rest of the Jews in his town were loaded into specially outfitted trucks with engine exhaust piped into the back
They were driven around until everyone was asphyxiated
Marcus realized the only way to survive was to work
When the Nazis built the giant camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau
Marcus was taken to the camp hospital where one of his toes was amputated
the doctor came to him and said you only get 14 days in the hospital
they come and take you to the crematoria," Leonard Marcus said
hobbling 2 miles each day from his spartan living quarters to the work site
eating a bowl of weak soup in the morning and evening and a piece of bread at noon
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Marcus was walking to work when he saw his uncle arriving at Auschwitz
He was thrilled to see his uncle from afar and later that day excitedly searched for him in his quarters
he found only his uncle's clothes and Marcus knew his uncle had been gassed immediately upon arrival
As the war was winding down in the winter of 1945
Marcus and hundreds of other laborers from Auschwitz were put on an open coal train and spent days traveling from Poland to Germany with no food or shelter from the brutal cold
and bodies of people who died from the cold and starvation were tossed off
One day Marcus saw a shivering boy ask a Nazi guard if he could get a coat from the body of one of the dead men thrown from the train
"My dad watched this young boy jump off the train and get a coat from a pile of bodies
A soldier went up to him and shot him in the back
'That's when I gave up hope,' " Leonard Marcus said
someone threw a loaf of bread at Marcus' train car
He knew if he jumped off to get the bread he would be killed
He threw the loaf up to the people in his train car
a guard beat him and told him to get back on the train
The bread was gone by the time he clambered aboard
but Marcus told his son he got something else
Marcus was fed by American soldiers and in return he gave them caps he made after teaching himself to be a tailor
He eventually immigrated to Milwaukee in 1950 where his cousins introduced Marcus to a young woman whose family had fled his same hometown before the war
Marcus married Marlene and they were married 66 years until her death last month
He worked as a tailor and clothing cutter in Milwaukee
he began speaking at schools about his experiences
he stepped back and looked at his whole life and knew it was his obligation to make sure future generations knew what happened
He saw more death than any of us can imagine," said his son
Marcus is survived by daughter Sharon Lerman and grandchildren
Thursday at the chapel of the Jewish Home and Care Center
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Ten third sector entities received grants from the regional budget for projects in the field of building independence and social inclusion of people with disabilities
The pool of funds distributed as a result of the open call for proposals is PLN 150,000
– Non-governmental organisations are important partners of the regional government in almost every dimension of social and economic life
I would like to thank their employees and volunteers for their involvement,’ says Marshal Piotr Całbecki
Within the framework of grants from the voivodeship budget
non-governmental organisations will organise sporting
as well as rehabilitation activities for people with disabilities
Subjects who received grants include the Oligo Association for Assistance to Children and Adults with Intellectual Disabilities in Włocławek
the ‘przytULAnka’ Association for the Disabled in Radziejów County and Caritas of the Toruń Diocese
The regional government supports projects implemented by non-governmental organisations in the fields of culture
activities for the disabled and the development of civil society
PLN 6.5 million will be distributed through 22 grant competitions
Press Office of the Marshal’s Office
Marshal's Office of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region