Kari Johnson

“Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of unified Germany, once warned the world to watch out for the German people. With a good leader, they were the greatest nation on Earth. With a bad leader, they were monsters. For the guards who persecuted us, discipline was more important than common sense. If a soldier is told to march, they will march. If they are told to shoot a man in the back, they will do it, and never question if it is right or wrong. The Germans made a religion of logic, and it turned them into murderers.”
― Eddie Jaku, The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor

“I knew that there would be no point surviving if I had to become an evil man to do it. I never hurt another prisoner, I never stole another man’s bread, and I did all I could to help my fellow man.”
― Eddie Jaku, The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor

“I am still in awe of the human body and what it is capable of. I am a precision engineer, and I have spent years making the most complicated, intricate machinery, but I could not make a machine like the human body. It is the best machine ever made. It turns fuel into life, can repair itself, can do anything you need it to. That is why today it breaks my heart to see the way some people treat their bodies, ruining this wonderful machine we are all gifted by smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, poisoning themselves with drugs. They are demolishing the best machine ever put onto this Earth, and it is such a terrible waste.”
― Eddie Jaku, The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor

“Kindness is the greatest wealth of all. Small acts of kindness last longer than a lifetime. This lesson, that kindness and generosity and faith in your fellow man are more important than money, is the first and greatest lesson my father ever taught me. And in this way he will always be with us, and always live forever. Here are the lines I try to live by, and which I like to include when I speak publicly: May you always have lots of love to share, Lots of good health to spare, And lots of good friends who care.”
― Eddie Jaku, The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor