Aller au contenu principal

World's oldest man holds bar mitzvah in Israel aged 113

Yisrael Kristal was born in Poland in 1903. His wife and two young children died in Auschwitz during World War Two
A picture taken on 21 January, 2016, shows Yisrael Kristal sitting in his home in the Israeli city of Haifa (AFP)
Par MEE staff

The world's oldest man, a 113-year-old Holocaust survivor who celebrated his birthday on Thursday, is set to finally have his bar mitzvah after his original one was interrupted due to World War One.

Yisrael Kristal was born in Poland in 1903 to Jewish parents and now lives in Israel, DPA news agency reported. He became the world’s oldest man earlier this year at the age of 112.

According to his daughter Kristal Kuperstoch, Kristal’s mother died when he was only nine, while his father was conscripted by the Russian army when he was 13, meaning that he had no family to help him celebrate the traditional Jewish coming-of-age ritual

"We will bless him, we will dance with him, we will be happy,” his daughter said about the pending bar mitzvah which is expected to take place in the coming weeks and will be attended by around 100 family members.

"We are excited, we're happy, it is a great honour to celebrate his bar mitzvah. He has children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and cousins and everyone is coming,” Kuperstoch told the BBC in a separate interview.

Kristal was the only member of his immediate family to survive his incarceration in the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp during World War Two where his first wife and their two children died.

He later remarried and moved to Israel with his wife in 1950. The pair had two children and has multiple grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Middle East Eye propose une couverture et une analyse indépendantes et incomparables du Moyen-Orient, de l’Afrique du Nord et d’autres régions du monde. Pour en savoir plus sur la reprise de ce contenu et les frais qui s’appliquent, veuillez remplir ce formulaire [en anglais]. Pour en savoir plus sur MEE, cliquez ici [en anglais].