Born in Leipzig, Germany into a Jewish family in 1920, Eddie Jaku was a teenager when his world was forever destroyed. On November 9, 1938 — Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass — Eddie was beaten by SS thugs, arrested, and sent to a concentration camp with thousands of other Jews from across Germany. Every day for the next seven years, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors in Buchenwald, in Auschwitz, and finally on a forced death march during the Third Reich’s last days. The Nazis took everything from Eddie—his family, his friends, and his country. But they did not break his spirit.
Against unbelievable odds, Eddie found the will to survive. Overwhelmingly grateful, he made a promise to smile every day in thanks for the precious gift he was given and to honor the six million Jews murdered by Hitler. As he turned 100 years of age, Eddie proudly called himself the “happiest man on earth.” In his remarkable memoir, this born storyteller shares his wisdom and reflects on his amazing life, talking warmly and openly about the power of gratitude, tolerance, and kindness. “Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful,” he said. With his book, The Happiest Man on Earth, Eddie shows us how.
Although your own adversities, difficulties, frustrations, anxieties and disappointments in the four or more years of your stay here in law school turn pale compared to the agony and sufferings Eddie endured at Auschwitz, each one of you, even me, could learn much from his life. It is this: Even in our darkest, most sorrowful moments, in the end, we can say that our story and our life was one of genuine HAPPINESS and JOY because “happiness is something we can choose.” Happiness is something we chose. As each of us have chosen San Beda College Alabang School of Law, we have chosen happiness because we are part of the happiest law school in the world.
But unlike Eddie, who vowed never to set foot again in Germany (for good reason too), you must always come back to SBCA. This is your HOME, this is your Alma Mater – the Mother of your Soul. For if fascist Germany stole Eddie’s wealth, health, freedom and even his dignity, San Beda Alabang Law, even if you did go through some degree of agony here, never took anything away from you. On the contrary, San Beda Alabang gave you a part of its heart, so as you could be whole.
One of my all-time favorite movies is the 1996 epic, Dragonheart. It is the story of the good and generous Dragon, Draco, who willingly shared part of his heart to a knight so the latter could be whole. In turn, the knight-king was expected to live his life strictly according to the Knight Code of Valor. We see San Beda as that dragon now, though, we should rather refer to it as a Lion, our Lion who has shared a part of his heart to make each of us whole and in so doing beseeched to us that we Bedans live according to the Code of Valor:
A Bedan sworn to Valor
His heart knows only virtues,
His knowledge of the law defends the helpless,
His might upholds the weak,
His words speak only truth
So come back. Anytime, always. Particularly when you are so down, unhappy, feeling so unloved. Come back and let us remind you that happiness can be chosen. Happiness is a choice. Come back for we here at Alabang, your home, mother of your soul, LOVE you so dearly. On your darkest, most sorrowful days, remember that we will never be fooled by mistakes or dark images you hold about yourself. We will only remember your beauty when you feel ugly, your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty and your purpose when you are confused.
Congratulations, Class of 2023, my dear children! Go make Papa proud!
