One Day In The Life Of Abraham Of Auschwitz

After fleeing to France in the wake of the Night of the Broken Glass, Abraham Mahler joins the mass of humanity seeking to escape the lightning advances of the Wehrmacht. In Marseilles he is arrested and transported to the concentration camp Birkenau, often referred to as Auschwitz - Birkenau, where he rises to the rank of kapo and rules over zone B2d's kitchen, a fragile, insular world dedicated to feeding the zone's Jews. Driven by his conviction that the keys to survival are obedience, hard work and manipulation of the system, he drives his staff onward. But on one frigid January day in 1944 his world is threatened by a Ukrainian criminal. Armed with an iron pipe and an insatiable urge to kill, he seeks blood and victims.

Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku made a vow to smile every day and believed he was the 'happiest man on earth'. In his inspirational memoir, he paid tribute to those who were lost by telling his story and sharing his wisdom. 'Eddie looked evil in the eye and met it with joy and kindness . . . [his] philosophy is life-affirming' - Daily Express Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you. Eddie Jaku always considered himself a German first, a Jew second. He was proud of his country. But all of that changed in November 1938, when he was beaten, arrested and taken to a concentration camp. Over the next seven years, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors every day, first in Buchenwald, then in Auschwitz, then on a Nazi death march. He lost family, friends, his country. The Happiest Man on Earth is a powerful, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful memoir of how happiness can be found even in the darkest of times. 'Australia's answer to Captain Tom . . . a memoir that extols the power of hope, love and mutual support' - The Times

Captured by the Nazis as a teenager in Poland, the author tells of his survival and eventual move to America where he proudly worked and raised a family.

Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku made a vow to smile every day and believed he was the ‘happiest man on earth’. In his inspirational memoir, he paid tribute to those who were lost by telling his story and sharing his wisdom. ‘Eddie looked evil in the eye and met it with joy and kindness . . . [his] philosophy is life-affirming’ – Daily Express Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you. Eddie Jaku always considered himself a German first, a Jew second. He was proud of his country. But all of that changed in November 1938, when he was beaten, arrested and taken to a concentration camp. Over the next seven years, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors every day, first in Buchenwald, then in Auschwitz, then on a Nazi death march. He lost family, friends, his country. The Happiest Man on Earth is a powerful, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful memoir of how happiness can be found even in the darkest of times. ‘Australia’s answer to Captain Tom . . . a memoir that extols the power of hope, love and mutual support’ – The Times

David Van Turnhout and Dirk Verhofstadt traced the story of David's Jewish grandfather, Ide Leib Kartuz. Fleeing from antisemitism and violence, he came to Antwerp in 1929 and set up business as a tailor. The family he left behind ended up in the ghetto of Radomsko. Each and every member of the family was gassed at Treblinka. In Belgium, Kartuz joined the resistance movement, but was arrested by the Nazis in 1942 and deported to Auschwitz. On arrival there, his wife and two children immediately died a horrible death. He survived in a unit of tailors where he repaired camp clothing and SS guards' uniforms, sometimes receiving special orders from SS officers. Kartuz endured an inhuman death march to Mauthausen. After the war, back in Antwerp, he made tailored suits for bankers and other business people. His final battle was against the Belgian state, for recognition as a Belgian citizen, member of the resistance and war victim. Very few people realise how difficult it was for Jewish people to survive after liberation. The authors dig deep into the core of the Holocaust and investigate every trail from Radomsko to Miami. In the Auschwitz archives, they discover unpublished witness statements by tailors in Block 1. And completely unexpectedly, they also discover a cousin of Ide's, living in Florida. She had survived as a child by hiding in an attic in Brussels and speaks for the first time about those dark days. It took the authors a year to wind their questing way through important discoveries and setbacks but in this tribute, an unknown piece of history has finally been given a face.

- Discussed an aspect of the Holocaust often overlooked - the camps of Soviet Russia. - Discussed an aspect of the Holocaust often overlooked - the camps of Soviet Russia. - Author is a survivor of the story. - Book includes twenty-five (25) b/w photos.

One of the most uplifting stories you will ever read. Abram Goldberg is a beacon of joy and optimism, and a master of keeping perspective. The day Abram and his mother arrived at Auschwitz death camp they both knew it would be her last. In their final moment together, Abram's mum urged her nineteen-year-old son to 'do everything humanly possible to survive, and tell people what happened here'. Then she was taken to a gas chamber and murdered. Abram had already endured and survived so much until that moment, but with his strength of hope, sometimes reduced to a flicker, he survived. After liberation, Abram eventually found his way to Belgium, where he met the love of his life, fellow Auschwitz survivor Cesia. The young couple came to Australia, where that flicker of hope grew as bright as the sun, illuminating everything they touched and everyone who came into their sphere. Without bitterness and always with perspective, Abram has never forgotten his mother's last words to him. And in their seventy-five years of marriage, Abram and Cesia have remained dedicated to educating people about the Holocaust and to living their lives to the fullest in tribute to its victims.