Book Review: The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku

Note: I read Eddie Jaku’s memoir during the first wave of COVID-19, shortly after transitioning to remote work, to maintain the motivation and high spirits of myself and my team.

In the last 75 years, several popular books based on Holocaust experience, such as In Search of Meaning by Viktor Frankl, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, The Choice by Edith Eger, and others, were published.

In 2020, Macmillan Australia published a memoir by Eddie Jaku OAM, who wrote at the ripe age of 100 years (Eddie passed away in October 2021 — Rest in Peace). In The Happiest Man on Earth, Eddie Jaku presented a firsthand experience of atrocities against humanity by Adolf Hitler and his SS regime in different concentration camps in a very simple language. There’s a fascinating survivor’s tale, but most of all there is hope, and love, and above all, kindness.

This is the story of a man who suffered through great tragedy and hardship, who spent years fighting one day at a time just to live, and who came through it all with an unbreakable spirit. The story is a quick read, though incredibly emotional. Things are told quite simply, but that doesn’t affect the feeling of the story — you will easily become immersed in Eddie’s story — ”If you smile, the world smiles with you. Life is not always happiness. Sometimes, there are many hard days. But you must remember that you are lucky to be alive — we are all lucky in this way. Every breath is a gift. Life is beautiful if you let it be. Happiness is in your hands.”

What we can learn from this book is that the human spirit can overcome so much. It doesn’t make anything hurt any less or make the pain go away. But somehow, an innate strength helped him to survive the atrocities of WWII. This story is filled with heart and light and hope and the message that kindness is one of the most valuable things we all have to give, and it costs us nothing but rather doubles our stores when we give it.

He talks about values that cannot be measured monetarily, and therefore are worth so much more. They are needed as much as food and water.

• The importance of family.
• How friends help you survive through dark times.
• Laughter can help lighten the load.
• Education is your friend.
• Love is beautiful.

Throughout the book, Mr. Jaku stresses the importance of kindness. You never know how even the smallest gesture or the simplest act of helping another can make a world of difference. Eddie says, “My father used to tell me there is more pleasure in giving than in taking, that the important things in life — friends, family, kindness — are far more precious than money. A man is worth more than his bank account.” On another occasion, he says, “Meeting and helping those girls really made me understand my father’s advice that it was the duty of the fortunate to help those who are suffering and that it is better to give than receive. There are always miracles in the world, even when all seems hopeless. And when there are no miracles, you can make them happen. With a simple act of kindness, you can save another person from despair, and that might just save their life. And this is the greatest miracle of all.”

I saved some of his quotes to keep myself motivated and sane during the challenging phase of the pandemic.

If you have the opportunity today, please go home and tell your mother how much you love her. Do this for your mother.

My education saved my life, and not for the first or last time.

We can live a few weeks without food, a few days without water, but without hope, without faith in other human beings? We will fail and break down. So that was how we survived.

Shared sorrow is half sorrow; shared pleasure is double pleasure.

Hate is the beginning of a disease, like cancer. It may kill your enemy, but it will destroy you in the process too.

Gopal