Israeli man survived the Holocaust and is now the oldest man on earth. Israeli flags. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock
The horrors of the Holocaust couldn’t overcome Israel Kristal, and so far, neither has old age. On Friday, Guinness World Records announced that Kristal—at 112 years and 178 days old—is the oldest living man currently on earth. A press release from Guinness World Records said Kristal was born in Poland and he endured the First World War and eventually survived the Holocaust at Auschwitz. He moved to Haifa, Israel in 1950 and lives there today.
“I don’t know the secret for long life. I believe that everything is determined from above and we shall never know the reasons why,” said Kristal in comments published by Guinness World Records. “There have been smarter, stronger and better looking men then me who are no longer alive. All that is left for us to do is to keep on working as hard as we can and rebuild what is lost.”
A religious man, Kristal dropped down to just 81.5 pounds (37 kilos) at Auschwitz, where he was rescued by the Allied forces in 1945. His first wife and two children were killed in the Holocaust.
He later remarried and brought his second wife and son to Israel. Despite his tragic life, Kristal literally sought to make the world a sweeter place, working in the family confectionary business as a young man and bringing that trade to Israel after the Holocaust.
Marco Frigatti, Head of Records for Guinness World Records was quoted as saying, “Mr. Kristal’s achievement is remarkable—he can teach us all an important lesson about the value of life and how to stretch the limits of human longevity.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, March 13, 2016)