The Happiest Man on Earth

🤷 Personal Thoughts    

If you think your problems are a big deal, dear to read Jaku's story. You'll have instead humility from reading about his journey. Expressions and illustrations throughout his story are captivating. Even though the experience of how it was like being at Auschwitz can't be only elicited through mere words, this writing has somewhat done so in my opinion. You'll feel his struggle, pain, happiness read this book. Marvelous Autobiography. I'm rating it as one of my favorite 2022 books.

📒 Summary + Notes (High-Level Thoughts)  

"This is what life is all about. To share your good fortune.” (Page 11)

Sometimes now, when I am lying in bed at night, I look back and think that this was the best time of my life.

I cherished this time with my whole family together in that attic. It was cramped and sometimes uncomfortable, and I was working my fingers to the bone just to subsist, but we were together. (Page 62)

By the time we arrived at our destination, as many as 40 percent of people in the other carriages had died. In our car, only two people died. Thanks to my father, the rest of the people in our carriage survived. At least, until they reached Auschwitz. (Page 66)

If you have the opportunity today, please go home and tell your mother how much you love her. Do this for your mother. And do it for your new friend, Eddie, who cannot tell to his mother. (Page 71)

Worst of all, my dignity was stripped from me. When Hitler had written his hateful book, Mein Kampf, in which he blamed all the troubles of the world on Jews, he had fantasized about a world in which we would be humiliated - eating like pigs, dressed in rags, the most pitiful people in the world. Now, that had come true. (Page 76)

Each morning, we would wake up and, before work, we would walk around the blocks and talk, to keep our spirits up. We would hide little presents for each other behind a brick I had carved out in the toilet wall - soap, toothpaste, pieces of rags. (Page 82)

This is the most important thing I have ever learned:

the greatest thing you will ever do is be loved by another person.

I cannot emphasize this enough, especially to young people. Without friendship, a human being is lost. A friend is someone who reminds you to feel alive. (Page 83)

I became a mechanical engineer for IG Farben. They were one of the worst offenders against the Jews. Over 30,000 people were forced to work in their factories, and they supplied the poison gas, Zyklon B, that killed over a million people in the gas chambers. (Page 90)

THIS IS WHAT I QUICKLY LEARNED ABOUT THE Nazis. Under the Nazi regime, a German man was not immediately an evil man, he was weak and easily manipulated. (Page 97)

Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.

Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.

Just walk beside me and be my friend.

But it was sometimes hard for the good Germans to make themselves known. They had to know that they could trust you. If they were caught helping a Jew, it would mean death for them too. The oppressors were just as afraid as the oppressed. This is fascism - a system that makes victims of everybody. (Page 102)

I’m so sorry to say that when I tried to find Dr Kinderman after the war, I found out he had passed away. He saved my life that night and I will always be grateful. And the advice he gave me was even more valuable than the surgery.

'Eddie, if you want to survive, when you come back from work, you lay down, rest, conserve your energy. One hour of rest is two days of survival. (Page 110)

I knew I was in bad shape. I was sick with cholera and typhoid, and malnourished, weighing only 28 kilograms. (Page 131)

You don't want to fall in love with a reflection of yourself! A strong partnership is with a man or a woman who is different from you, who challenges you to try new things, to become a better person. (Page 151)

Each year, Flore and I celebrate our wedding anniversary on 20 April - Hitler's birthday. We are still here; Hitler is down there. (Page 155)

A field is empty, but if you put in the effort to grow something then you will have a garden. And that's life.

Give something, something will come back. Give nothing, nothing will come back. To grow a flower is a miracle: it means you can grow more. Remember that a flower is not just a flower, it is the start of a whole garden. u o6 om So I go on telling my story to anyone who wants to know about the Holocaust. If I get through to even one person, it is worth it. And I hope that is you, my new friend. I hope this story goes with you. (Page 184)

If you are interested, grab a copy here.