Jack Marchick papers

Jack Marchick (1922-2000) was born in Denver, Colorado to Russian immigrant parents, Sara Shaffer (1900-1930) and Joe Marchick (1898-1989). His mother died young and his father supported Jack and his two siblings working as the manager of a clothing store in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In 1941, Jack enlisted in the United States Army as a corporal. He was deployed to Europe and in April 1945, as a First Lieutenant in Company C of the 654th Tank Destroyer Battalion, liberated a concentration camp, which is likely Buchenwald. He was the battalion’s only Jewish officer. Jack was discharged from the US Army shortly after in December 1945. He returned to the United States and studied at the University of California before taking a job as a salesman in San Jose in the 1950s. During this time, Jack married and had a daughter, Barbara Lee (1951-1996). He passed away in Palm Springs, California in 2000. The Jack Marchick collection comprises letters and photographs collected by Jack during and after his deployment with the United States Army in Europe. The letters are written between 1945 and 1948 by Raymond Weinstein, a former prisoner of the camp Jack Marchick liberated, and discuss the economic and political situation in post-war France. Raymond writes of his struggles to obtain and keep work; his family; his health; and his progress in gaining back his weight after years of malnutrition. Among the 26 photographs are images of a concentration camp, likely Buchenwald, immediately after liberation, including pictures of Raymond and Jack, both wearing helmets. Other photographs came from albums Jack found in German homes during and after the war. These photographs include images of ghetto inhabitants wearing armbands, and photographs of a hanging.