Yakov, son of Rachel and Yerucham, was born in 1928 in Ostrowiec. He was one of the survivors of the Second World War. After he was liberated from the Nazi camp, he was transferred by the Jewish Brigade to Italy. In 1945, he was sent from there to Israel with the members of the "Dror" movement, entered the framework of Aliyat Hano'ar in Kibbutz Givat HaSlosha and worked in the banana plantations.

With the outbreak of the War of Independence he was drafted into the army left the kibbutz. In 1946, he joined the Haganah and participated with Heil HaSadeh [Field Corps] in operations against Etzel⁸ in Petach Tikva. In 1947, he joined the Palmach. He served, with his fellow battalion members in the Harel Brigade, as a convoy escort on the Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem road during the siege of Jerusalem. He remained in the besieged city and participated in its battles. He was sent to a platoon commanders' course and specialized in anti-tank weapons. He fell in Operation Horev at the entrances to Rafah. On January 7, 1949, during a patrol among the enemy vehicles that fell into our hands, he was shot from an ambush by an Egyptian soldier.