An afternoon with Eddie
Holocaust Survivor Eddie Jaku’s talk at the Sydney Jewish Museum was sellout with many keen to hear him speak after his recent appearance on the ABC’s 7.30 Report.
Eddie Jaku with some of his fans
More than 250 attended the event to hear Eddie speak about his history. Growing up Eddie identified as ‘German first and Jewish at home.’ Yet, with the rise of Nazism, he was subjected to discrimination including his expulsion from school in 1933. On the night of Kristallnacht, Eddie was severely bashed by a group of Nazis and sent to Buchenwald.
In 1942 Eddie’s family was sent to a camp in Belgium and from there to Auschwitz where Eddie’s mother and father were both murdered. In 1945 the camp was liquidated. On the march from Sonneburg, Eddie hid in a drain and thereafter in a cave, before been rescued by the Americans.
Today he considers himself to be “the happiest man alive” and constantly promotes his messages of tolerance, understanding, love and friendship.
Eddie has received hundreds of letters from both students and adults, telling him what an unforgettable impact he has made on their lives with some of these poignant letters being read out at the event.
