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World's oldest man dies in Israel aged 113

| Updated: October 24, 2017 15:50:35


World's oldest man dies in Israel aged 113

The world's oldest man, a Holocaust survivor who was set to turn 114 next month, died Friday at his hometown Haifa in Israel.

 

Yisrael Kristal passed away in his hometown of Haifa, according to Guinness World Records.

 

Kristal was born in the village of Zarnow, about 90 miles (146km) south-west of Warsaw, in 1903.

 

The son of a religious scholar, Kristal lost his mother and father during World War One, according to reports. He later moved to Lodz to work in the family confectionery business.

 

After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in 1939, Kristal and his family were moved into the Lodz ghetto.

 

His two children died there and Kristal and his wife Chaja Feige Frucht were sent to Auschwitz in 1944 after the ghetto was liquidated.

 

Kristal's wife was murdered in Auschwitz but he survived, performing slave labour in that and other camps. When he was found by the Allies in May 1945 he weighed just 37 kg (5 stones 11 lbs).

 

The sole survivor from his family, Kristal emigrated to Israel in 1950 with his second wife and their son, where he continued to run his confectionery business until his retirement.

 

Kristal was officially recognised as the world's oldest man by the Guinness Book of Records in March 2016, according to global media reports.

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