Eddie Jaku

Holocaust survivor

The happiest man on earth

Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku never expected to live to 100 let alone become a first-time author just months after making the milestone.

He was deported to Buchenwald in late November 1938 and jailed in camps in Belgium and France between 1939 and 1941.

He escaped several times, once joining his family in Belgium, where they had fled and lived in an attic, hidden from the world much like Anne Frank’s family. He now describes that time in close confines with his parents, sister, aunts and another Jewish family as one of the happiest times of his life. “Because we were all together”.

Key takeaways:

  1. Self-proclaimed as “the happiest man on earth”, Eddie saw death every day throughout WW11, and because he managed to survive, made a vow to himself to smile every day.
  2. Life lessons such as hug your mother, tell her how much you love her, shared sorrow is half sorrow, shared pleasure is double pleasure, and love is the best medicine.