Even if your fate is filled with tragic events, you can feel happy. Eddie Yaku, a 101-year-old Holocaust survivor who published a book on optimism and spoke about his life in front of TED Talks, proves it.
Holocaust survivor Eddie Yak is 101 years old, and he decided to share his life experience and wisdom accumulated over a century (and even a little more!) at TED Talks.
Back in 2020, the man proclaimed himself “the happiest person in the world” by publishing a book of the same name about a positive outlook on life. Yaku assures: if at least one person smiles after his words, he did not live in vain.
Eddie Yaku was born in Germany – he originally had the surname Yakubovich. “I thought I lived in the most civilized, most cultured and by far the most educated country in Europe. And I was first and foremost a German, and only then a Jew,” says Yaku.
On November 9, 1938, while Nazi troops were burning synagogues and destroying Jewish homes, Eddie was taken to Buchenwald, one of the first concentration camps. His family was also arrested.
Years later, he managed to escape from the concentration camp and reunite with his relatives. For some time they lived underground. But in 1943 they were arrested again and sent to Auschwitz. “Auschwitz is hell on earth,” Yaku says. “I lost my parents and sister there.”
In 1945, Yaka was sent on a “death march” (moving prisoners from Nazi German concentration camps in the occupied territories), but he escaped again. He had to hide in the forest, eating snails and slugs, until he was rescued in June of that year.
“What I saw at that time is unimaginable. When I tell people about it, they refuse to believe,” he notes.
According to Yaku, he was unhappy for some time after the war. But then he met his future wife Flora and realized that it was no longer possible to live in the past. “80 years ago, I didn’t think I would have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” says Eddie. “Now I have it all. A real blessing!
Yaku is sure that the secret of happiness lies in love and the absence of hatred. “Hatred is a disease that, of course, can destroy the enemy, but it will destroy us too,” he says in his TED talk.
“In turn, love for family and friends is the key to hope. Where there is hope, there is life. If there is no more hope, you are finished. Friendship is priceless. When we share sadness with loved ones, it becomes less, and when we share joy, it magically increases, ”adds Eddie.
He believes that only the person himself decides what his life will be like. “You need to focus on what we usually call the little things. But if you are completely healthy, you are already practically a multimillionaire,” emphasizes Yaku.
Eddie hopes his story will inspire others to make the right choice every day. “I want to make this world a better place. Eddie said. – I want everyone to stop and understand: “We must help each other.”