Happiest Man on Earth
Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku made a vow to smile every day and believed he was the ‘happiest man on earth’. In his inspirational memoir, he paid tribute to those who were lost by telling his story and sharing his wisdom.
‘Eddie looked evil in the eye and met it with joy and kindness . . . [his] philosophy is life-affirming’ – Daily Express
Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you.
Eddie Jaku always considered himself a German first, a Jew second. He was proud of his country. But all of that changed in November 1938, when he was beaten, arrested and taken to a concentration camp.
Over the next seven years, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors every day, first in Buchenwald, then in Auschwitz, then on a Nazi death march. He lost family, friends, his country.
The Happiest Man on Earth is a powerful, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful memoir of how happiness can be found even in the darkest of times.
'I have never met Eddie Jaku, but having read his book I feel like I have made a new friend . . . This is a beautiful book by a truly amazing man' - The Daily Telegraph
Eddie Jaku OAM was born Abraham Jakubowicz in Germany in 1920.
In World War II, Eddie was imprisoned in Buchenwald and Auschwitz concentration camps. In 1945, he was sent on a death march but escaped. Finally, he was rescued by Allied soldiers.
In 1950, he moved with family to Australia. Eddie volunteered at the Sydney Jewish Museum since its inception in 1992.
Eddie and Flore were married for seventy-five years, with two sons, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He died in October 2021, at the age of one hundred and one. His book, The Happiest Man on Earth, has been translated into thirty-seven languages and his message continues to be shared around the world.