Salomon jakubowicz biography

German Holocaust survivor (1920–2021)

Edward JakuOAM^[1] (born Abraham Salomon Jakubowicz; 14 April 1920 – 12 October 2021^[2]) was a survivor of several German concentration camps during World War II, who wrote of his wartime experiences after emigrating to Australia.

His memoir, called The Happiest Man on Earth, was published when he was 100 years old. It became an immediate best seller.^[3] Eddie had a sister Johanna (Henni) who also survived the Holocaust, and he changed his name to Edward (Eddie) as a tribute to his sister, who called him Eddie as an affectionate nickname.^[4]

Biography

Jaku recounts that as a boy in Leipzig, Germany, he truly believed that he was part of "the most enlightened, the most cultured, the most sophisticated society in the whole world".

His outlook changed following the rise of Nazis, when he was initially expelled from his school for being Jewish. His father organised an alias for him with