Shalom Jack

Jack Goldstein was mid-upper gunner in a Lancaster bomber when it was shot down by a German night-fighter during Bomber Command’s final WW2 mission to Nuremberg. He was the only member of the seven-man crew to be killed. It was just a few weeks before the war ended.

This book traces Jack’s Polish origins and his coming to England as a very young child when his parents fled the increasing discrimination and persecution facing Jewish people just before the start of WW1. It goes on to describe the struggles of his upbringing in London’s impoverished and deprived East End; the love and happiness of his family, growing up as one of eleven siblings; his marriage to Sadie and the Goldberg family; through to his service in the RAF Volunteer Reserve.

Based on painstaking and well-documented research, eye-witness accounts, and personal recollections, this book includes numerous photographs, documents and illustrations. It will be of particular appeal to those with interests in the history of the RAF and Bomber Command, London between the wars, social history of the 20th century, immigration, and Anglo-Jewish family life. 

Insightful, analytical, emotional and at times humorous, the book finally lays to rest the mystery of exactly what happened the night Jack was killed. It also describes with great sensitivity the traumas of war-time England, the profound importance of family, and the devastating impact of Jack’s death.