112-Year-Old Israeli Holocaust Survivor Likely Oldest Man Alive

Yisrael Kristal, a 112-year-old Israeli Holocaust survivor, is now believed to be the oldest person in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group. Yasutaro Koide, who was also 112, held this honour until his recent passing in Japan.

Born to a religious family in 1903 in what is now Poland, Yisrael lost his first wife and their two children during the Holocaust.

He and his second wife made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) in 1950, where they settled in Haifa and raised their two children, and where Yisrael started a sweets factory, Kristal’s Sweets. He still puts on tefillin and prays every day.

His daughter, Shula Kuperstoch, described her father to The Jerusalem Post.

“My father is someone who is always happy. He is optimistic, wise, and he values what he has,” Kristal’s daughter continued.

“His attitude to life is everything in moderation,” she says. “He eats and sleeps moderately, and says that a person should always be in control of their own life and not have their life control them, as far as this is possible.”

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