A Holocaust survivor in Haifa is believed to be the oldest man in the world.
Yisrael Kristal, 112, achieved the status after Yasutaro Koide of Japan, also 112, died on Jan. 19, Haaretz reported.
Kristal’s grandson, Oren, received an email this week from the Gerontology Research Group, an international organization that tracks the world’s over-110 set, alerting him that the Polish-born Auschwitz survivor was up for the honor.
Born on Sept. 15, 1903, in the town of Zarnow, Kristal moved to Lodz in 1920 to work in his family’s candy business. He continued operating the business after the Nazis forced the city’s Jews into a ghetto, where Kristal’s two children died. In 1944, he was deported to Auschwitz, where his wife was killed.
In 1950, he moved to Haifa with his second wife and their son, working again as a confectioner.
Interviewed by Haaretz in 2012, Kristal declined to offer a theory for his longevity, saying, “It’s no great bargain. Everyone has their own good fortune. It’s from heaven. There are no secrets.” — jta