He managed to sideswipe a tree before he crashed into the snow-covered ground, where he lay unconscious for some time before being captured by German soldiers and sent to a holding camp.
Mr. Jacobs was later transferred to an interrogation center with other fliers, where he was routinely subjected to "harsh interrogation and deprivation," he wrote, and repeatedly kicked.
The day after Christmas, he was sent to Stalag Luft 1 near Barth, Germany, where he was ultimately billeted with 200 other Jewish servicemen in separate quarters.
"The uncertainty of my future, in light of then known German persecution of Jews, was with me constantly until the camp was liberated by Soviet troops on April 30, 1945."
During his ordeal, Mr. Jacobs' weight fell from 170 to 115 pounds. Volunteering to help transport supplies to a nearby concentration camp for political prisoners resulted in a shocking encounter.
"What I saw will always remain as the most horrible human situation I have ever witnessed," he wrote.
"The building I entered was littered with excretion and garbage. There were dead bodies in grotesque positions. The fetid odor of death and disease was overwhelming," he wrote. "The emaciated people who were still alive were obviously near death. I went outside and threw up."
He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of lieutenant and his decorations included the Air Medal for meritorious service.
Mr. Jacobs resumed his studies at Maryland and earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1949. He worked for Henry Adams Inc. designing mechanical systems for large buildings, hospitals and other institutions, such as the University of Maryland School of Dentistry.
The former longtime Pikesville resident was an accomplished woodworker and enjoyed making furniture in his garage workshop.
He was a former member of Beth Jacob Congregation and was a member of Temple Beth Shalom in Arnold.
Dr. Stuart L. Jacobs, his son, described his father as a "gentle and wise man."
"During the 1990s, he received lots of counseling through the Veterans Administration and began to open up and talk about what happened to him during the war," said Dr. Jacobs. "He never had even been able to tell my mother what he had gone through."
His wife of 58 years, the former Irma E. Reamer, died in 2005.
Services were held Oct. 5.
Also surviving are a daughter, Charlene Jacobs of Baltimore; and two grandchildren.
