The Happiest Man On Earth: How A Holocaust Survivor Chose To Be Happy Through Trauma

After highly acclaimed seasons in North America and the UK, The Happiest Man On Earth has its Australian premiere at the iconic Opera House in Sydney.

This is a new play by Mark St. Germain and directed by Theresa Borg. Adapted from the best-selling memoir by Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku, the play tells the harrowing story of his experiences in the concentration camps; how he survived Kristallnacht, Buchenwald, Auschwitz, his escape attempts and a death march. Although the Nazis took his family, he chose joy, spreading kindness and tolerance through his memoir.

Eddie Jaku who published his memoir at the age of 100 is regarded as a legendary figure having moved to Australia after the horrors he experienced. He raised a family and chose to be happy, spending the rest of his life doing public service. He co-founded the Sydney Jewish museum and led holocaust education for 30 years speaking in front of hundreds and thousands of students and teachers.

Accomplished Australian actor Anton Berezin who is also of Jewish descent, portrays Eddie Jaku in this one man show. He explains that he will not be doing an impersonation on stage.

“I’m trying to capture the spirit, the kindness, focus, single-mindedness and generosity of the man. The play is set when he’s in his early 70s. There are moments of storytelling when I’m speaking directly to the audience telling them what happened, the circumstances and interactions, and then actual scenes where I’m reliving these experiences.”

Holocaust survivor stories are normally told in film, but Berezin believes that bringing this story to the stage makes it a more personal experience.

“I’ll spend most of the show speaking directly to the audience, not by way of a lecture, but by inviting them into the story. You can become emotionally involved in a movie, but you’re not in the movie whereas here, it’ll just be me on stage with 400 people in the audience sharing the same air living through the same experience.”

This play is powerful, moving and haunting. There are several scenes detailing the most profoundly painful moments in Eddie Jaku’s life which are difficult to act out on stage.

“When Eddie returns from engineering school after four and a half years, his and all the neighbours’ houses are dark and empty, and he doesn’t understand what’s going on. He falls asleep and, in the morning, he’s dragged out of bed by ten Nazis. It’s pretty full on. That was a tough moment for me.”

Audiences will experience a rollercoaster of emotions during the play but there are some lighter moments which welcomingly detract from the darkness and horror of the narrative.

“Eddie was a very funny man too and there are some really beautiful funny poignant moments – it’s dark humour, but very sweet and very funny.”

Berezin says there are so many thought-provoking messages in The Happiest Man On Earth as Eddie Jaku was famous for his truisms.

“My favourites are where he says; ‘Please understand this. The greatest gift a human being can ever receive is to be loved – without friendship we’re lost’. Another is; ‘Life can be beautiful, if you make it beautiful’. There are so many beautiful quotable quotes from Eddie which he is so famous for, and many are in the play.”

This moving one-man play is a must-see production for all audiences. It highlights how Eddie Jaku survived the horrors of concentration camps, the loss of his entire family, and yet still chose to live with kindness and happiness – hence the title: ‘The Happiest Man On Earth’.

‘The Happiest Man on Earth’ is on from May 12 – 17 at the Sydney Opera House.