REVIEW: The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku

My first thought on completing The Happiest Man on Earth, the uplifting, inspirational memoir from centenarian Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku, was that it should be added to all high school history or ethics reading lists. Eddie’s oft-repeated message of kindness, hope and friendship is one so worthy of wide dissemination, particularly in these challenging times.

Eddie Jaku (Photo by Tim Bauer).

Born to middle-class Jewish parents in Leipzig, Germany in 1920, Eddie’s happy childhood was inevitably and irreversibly interrupted by the rise of Nazism and the adoption of new laws disallowing him to pursue his education. Undeterred, his father arranged false identity papers and sent Eddie away to boarding school to study engineering, knowing that a good future relied on a good education. The knowledge Eddie gleaned from this would end up saving his life multiple times when his mechanical skills were in demand by his Nazi captors. Eventually, having faced unspeakable degradation and the horrors of Buchenwald and Auschwitz, Eddie survived, married and came to Australia in 1950.

Working as a volunteer guide at the Sydney Jewish Museum since its foundation, he has retold his story of survival to countless groups of school children, culminating last year in his delivering a TED Talk to an audience of thousands. Despite experiencing heinous treatment and deprivations, he doggedly preaches that friendship, love, happiness and contribution to one’s fellow man are the most important things in life. “Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you.”

Once you read The Happiest Man on Earth, you’ll want to gift it to all those you care about.

—The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku (Pan Macmillan Australia) is out now.

The Happiest Man on Earth

by Eddie Jaku

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. Because he survived, Eddie made the vow to smile every day. He pays tribute to those who were lost by telling his story, sharing his wisdom and living his best possible life...

Order NowRead More

2 Comments Share:

About the Contributor

Scott Whitmont