Marco Frigatti (R), Head of Records for Guinness World Records, presenting Israel Kristal (2nd-R) with his certificate of achievement for Oldest living man. © AFP photo / Dvir Rosen / Guinness World Records / AFP
Born in Poland on September 15th, 1903, 112-year-old Israel Kristal was on the brink of death when he was rescued in May of 1945 at the age of 41, weighing just 81 pounds (37 kilos). His wife and two children died in the camp.
Kristal later remarried and moved to Israel with his second family, where he ran a confectionary business.
Now living in Haifa, Israel, Kristal says he has no tips to offer anyone seeking to follow in his footsteps, proclaiming there is no “fountain of youth” secret to living such a long life.
“I don’t know the secret for long life. I believe that everything is determined from above and we shall never know the reasons why,” he said after receiving his world record certificate.
“There have been smarter, stronger and better looking men then me who are no longer alive. All that is left for us to do, is to keep on working as hard as we can and rebuild what is lost,” he added.
Kristal still has some way to go if he wants to nab the record for the world’s oldest living person. American born Susannah Mushatt Jones, the oldest living woman, holds that title at the age of 115.
According to the Guinness records, the oldest person to ever live was a French woman named Jeanne Calment, who was born on February 21, 1875, and died on August 4, 1997, living an incredible 122 years and 164 days.
