At the age of 100, one year before his death, Eddie Jaku, a German-Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, had his unique memoir, unforgettable and inspiring, published by Pan Macmillan Australia. Born in Leipzig, Germany, he grew up in a Jewish family in peace until as a teenager that idyllic world exploded. During the terrifying Night of Broken Glass known as Kristallnacht, November 9, 1938 when Eddie endured a severe beating by Nazi youth, he was arrested and sent by train to a concentration camp Buchenwald and later Auschwitz, along with thousands of other German Jews and “undesirable” people according to Hitler’s master plan of extinction.
To hear a wonderful Robert Resnikoff relate Eddie’s incredible story, fly to Playhouse on Park in West Hartford before Sunday, October 18 for a moving and emotional lesson in hope and happiness, compassion and caring, and his refusal to surrender to hatred despite a thousand reasons to do so. Webster’s Dictionary when describing a term like “resilience” should have a picture of Eddie next to that word. Mark St. Germain has adapted Eddie’s tale of survival into a significant and must see play “The Happiest Man on Earth” that has been sensitively and beautiful directed by Sasha Bratt, the theater’s new co-artistic director, for lessons in how to live your life with meaning and mission.
For seven long years as a captive, watching his family and friends torn away from him, Eddie used his talents and his education as an engineer to save his own life. Despite the starvation and the daily horrors, he was deemed "economically indispensible” as he could make and repair the machinery like the crematoriums that the Nazis depended upon to carry out their terrifying mission. His friendship with a fellow prisoner Kurt helped both men to save each others’ lives.
After the war finally ended in 1945, Eddie learned his entire family had been killed but he chanced to meet Flore and they married. Until the moment he held his new born son however, he was still suffering from his past. The birth of his son snapped the fog he was trapped in and he determined at that moment to choose to be happy and call his life “beautiful.” Focusing on joy, gratitude and kindness rather than sadness, depression and personal tragedy, Eddie knew everyone suffered from daily issue and determined to help people benefit from his lessons and learn how to live their best possible life.
Eddie Jaku vowed to smile, to value a good wife and friends, knowing we are strong together, and that it provides more pleasure to give than to take. He recommended calling your mother now to tell her you love her, and that extends to your children, family and friends. Hugs work too. He believed if you are healthy and happy, you are a millionaire and that happiness doubles every time you share it.
For tickets ($46-58.50), call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road. West Hartford at 860-523-5900 ext. 10 or online at playhouseonpark.org. Performances are Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday. A talkback follows the Sunday matinee.
For Eddie Jaku, it was okay to dislike but not hate. He felt the greatest thing you will ever do is to love someone and tell them so. Unbelievably in 2020, nearly 80,000,000 people were forced to leave their homes and become refugees. Remember Eddie's story and find your way to your home from darkness to light.
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