Jacob Trachtenberg is a scientist thanks to whose genius mankind learned about an original and witty mathematical system. The meaning of this scientific discovery is to perform arithmetic operations with huge numbers. These can be values that fill an entire line when writing on paper. The unique intelligence of Jacob manifested this system in terrible conditions for human existence. During the Second World War, he was a prisoner of a concentration camp. It was during this terrible period of his life that a scientist without the necessary conditions was able to create a complete system of calculations.
Biography
Historical information about Jacob Trachtenberg is very scarce. He was born in the coastal city of Odessa in 1888. In those years, it was the territory of the Russian Empire. Jacob comes from a Jewish family. He studied at a local gymnasium, and after receiving secondary education, went to St. Petersburg to continue his studies at the Mining Institute. Studying was easy for a student. This was reflected in his grades - Jacob received a diploma with honors. A young graduate engineer began work at the Obukhov plant. His industriousness and sharp mind helped Jacob Trachtenberg become the chief engineer at the enterprise, where more than 11 thousand employees worked.
The career of an engineer was interrupted when the First World War and revolutionary events in the Russian Empire began.
He had to emigrate to Europe. Jacob Trachtenberg chose Germany as his place of residence and settled in Berlin. Here he had to work in a literary publishing house. Jacob had to learn German. Thanks to his inventive mind, Jacob Trachtenberg became the author of a unique manual on the study of European languages. This technique is still used in schools and institutes.
During the years of his life in Berlin, Jacob met his future wife Alice.
Life in a Nazi state
In the thirties in Germany, drastic changes took place - the Nazis came to power in the country and began to openly carry out fascist slogans in public life. Since Jacob Trachtenberg was Jewish by nationality, it became dangerous for him, like other representatives of this nation, to live in Nazi Germany. Trachtenberg and his family are moving to Austria. His encyclopedic knowledge helped get a good job. However, Austria was soon captured by Nazi troops. Jewish refugees began to leave this calm country. The Jacob family went to look for safe places, but they were arrested and placed in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.
The life of the prisoners was terrible. The weakest were sent to gas ovens.
Despite the hardships and constant fear of death, Jacob Trachtenberg trained the brain so as not to fall and not lose the human image. Not having at hand notebooks and a pencil, the scientist mentally made mathematical calculations. He developed excellent abstract thinking. Jacob created interesting counting algorithms. He created an arithmetic system for processing numbers, which any person could learn. The difficulties of life in concentration camps, the threat to life and the longing for freedom led to the fact that Jacob escaped from prison with his wife.
