16 Facts About Yisrael Kristal

Yisrael Kristal was a Polish-Israeli supercentenarian recognized in 2014 as the oldest living Holocaust survivor.

Yisrael Kristal was born to a religious Jewish family in Maleniec, Konskie County, near Zarnow, then part of Congress Poland of the Russian Empire, on 15 September 1903.

Yisrael Kristal's father was a Torah scholar who ensured his son had a religious education, and Kristal would remain religiously observant all his life.

Yisrael Kristal attended a cheder at age three, where he studied Judaism and Hebrew.

Yisrael Kristal learned the Hebrew Bible at four and the Mishnah at six.

Yisrael Kristal's mother died in 1913 when he was ten years old.

Yisrael Kristal's father was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army, was taken prisoner and died soon after the war.

Yisrael Kristal married Chaja Feige Frucht in 1928, and they had two children.

Yisrael Kristal's wife was murdered in Auschwitz; he worked as a forced laborer and survived.

Yisrael Kristal initially worked at the Palata candy factory, where he was considered an expert and taught the owners to make an entire production line of sweets.

Yisrael Kristal then became self-employed, making boutique sweets at home and selling them at a Haifa kiosk.

Yisrael Kristal had great-grandchildren, but his family preferred not to state his exact number of descendants for fear of the "evil eye".

Yisrael Kristal died at his home in Haifa on 11 August 2017, at age 113 years, 10 months.

Yisrael Kristal became the world's oldest living man on 18 January 2016, after the death of Japanese supercentenarian Yasutaro Koide.

On 11 March 2016, Yisrael Kristal was officially recognized as the world's oldest man by Guinness World Records.

Yisrael Kristal's status was verified after documents confirming his age were uncovered in Poland.