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 101. His book has been translated into 37 languages and his message continues to be shared around the world.

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.

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. He now believes he is the 'happiest man on earth'.

Published as Eddie turns a hundred, 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.