Israel Kristal

Yisrael Kristal (Sept 15 1903- ) is an unverified Polish-born Israeli supercentenarian who is currently a candidate for the "World's Oldest Man" title following the death of Yasutaro Koide of Japan, Jan 19 2016. He is also the oldest living Holocaust survivor.

Yisrael Kristal was internationally recognized upon the passing of Alice Herz-Sommer of London, United Kingdom, as the oldest living Holocaust survivor, in 2014. Kristal was reportedly born in Zarnow (Pol. Żarnów), Russian Empire (now Poland), on Sept. 15, 1903. Now, the village is part of Lodz Voivodeship. His mother died when he was just a boy. His father was drafted during World War I and young Yisrael was forced to work hard to make it for the living. In 1920, being aged 17, he moved to Lodz, looking for new perspectives. He married in 1928 at the age of 25. Together with her wife, they run a candy and chockolate factory. Yisrael Kristal was working as a confectioner all his life. After the outbreak of World War II, Lodz became occupied by Germans. In 1940, the Kristal family was forced by the Nazis to move into the special Jewish district called the Litzmannstadt Ghetto. Yisrael Kristal lived in the ghetto between 1940-1944. His first wife and their two children died in the Holocaust. In 1944, Yisrael Kristal was deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Later, he was a prisoner of a few other labour camps and, finally, he was freed in May 1945. He returned to Lodz and restarted his confectionery business, married again and had a son, starting life anew. In 1950, the family left Poland and settled in Haifa, Israel, where he still lives presently.