“I never lost sight of what it is to be civilised. I knew that there would be no point surviving if I had to become an evil man to do it.”

The Happiest Man On Earth is a memoir by Australian Auschwitz survivor, Eddie Jaku, born Abraham Salomon Jakubowicz in Leipzig in 1920. An idyllic childhood cradled within a loving family abruptly comes to an end in 1933 when the Nazi Party begins imposing restrictions of the freedom of Jews. His father, Isidore, insists that his son gets a good education, so Eddie becomes gentile German orphan Walter Schleif for five years until, at eighteen, he graduates as a Precision Engineer.

He has found being separated from his family heartbreaking, so returns to Leipzig for a surprise visit only to be beaten and sent to Buchenwald. He is stunned at the change in attitude of ordinary Germans: friends and neighbours who are suddenly manipulated into hatred. Those meting out unbelievable cruelty in the camp, he understands, have lost any morals, human decency or respect they had. But it’s the first occasion, of several, that his father’s insistence on a good education turns out to save his life.

A temporary escape to Belgium allows him to live with his family until they are all arrested. After a year in Exarde refugee camp in Belgium, not because he is a Jew, but because he is German, he has encountered many refugees from Hitler’s Germany, among them, former high-ranking German politicians opposing the Nazi Party. He finds Socialist Democrat Artur Bratu calm and inspiring, with an inextinguishable hope for the future of his country: worth following, Eddie decides, a survivor.

Before he makes it to Australia, there are encounters with the best and worst of mankind; there’s a failed evacuation from Dunkirk; an arrest in France as a German spy; seven months in a French camp; an escape from a train heading to Auschwitz; a reunion with his family in occupied Belgium, and a hidden stay in a cramped attic that he counts among the best times of his life; internment in Auschwitz, where often only the company of his friend Kurt kept him from giving up all hope.

“Kurt was the only link to my old life and a time when I was happy. I must tell you, there was nothing more important than my friendship with Kurt. Without him, I would have succumbed to despair after my parents were murdered.”

Forced marches, transport on open train carriages in the snow, and finally, weighing only 28kg, he is picked up by Americans and taken to hospital. What Eddie endured would have turned many people bitter, but this resourceful and resilient man eventually realises that the best revenge on those who tortured him is to live well. And after many years, he realises he needs to share what happened so that others would know. His survival and attitude to life are inspirational.

“This is the most important thing I have ever learned: the greatest thing you will ever do is be loved by another person.”

No matter how many books I read by Holocaust survivors, I always manage to encounter horrors I’ve never heard of before and marvel anew at the capacity humans have to survive the unimaginable. In his first sentence Eddie Jaku introduces himself as your new friend and I found that so endearing. It got me immediately invested in his story and I would have thought it was a clever way to grab you emotionally from the get to if I didn’t believe he meant it wholeheartedly. But I did believe him.

Intermittently addressing you, his friend, throughout the book, Eddie tells you his story. From his school days to his experiences in multiple concentration camps and beyond, you can’t help but feel you’re sitting across from him as he regales you with his stories and the wisdom he’s accumulated along the way.

“Kindness is the greatest wealth of all.”

Despite taking you on a journey through the darkest humanity has to offer, Eddie has managed to hold onto hope.

“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.”

This is a quick read, one that is undeniably heartbreaking at times. I felt like Eddie was probably holding back on describing some of the more difficult aspects of his story, but fair enough. I can’t even begin to imagine how painful it was for him to write about any of his early life.

Ultimately, my experience of this book was one where I felt better after reading it than I felt before I began. I made a new friend, albeit one I’ll probably never meet. I was reminded that it is possible to be happy and live a fulfilled life, even when you’ve experienced pain that feels insurmountable. I was encouraged to inject some more kindness into the world.

“It is never too late to be kind, polite, and a loving human being.”

My only quibble, and this is simply because Eddie made me care deeply about them, is that I yearn to know what happened to Henni after she moved to Australia and to Kurt. I adored reading about Eddie and Kurt’s friendship and to leave Kurt’s story in 1946, without any information about their (I hope) continued friendship, hurt a little.

I loved this book. What an amazing man to have so much love and compassion after all he and his family have been through. Truly a fantastic book