DHAKA: A survivor of the Auschwitz death camp is now the world’s oldest man, the Guinness World Records organization says.

Yisrael Kristal was born near Zarnow in Poland in 1903 and lived through two world wars before moving to the Israeli city of Haifa.

He was 112 years and 178 days old on 11 March, Guinness World Records says, reports the BBC.

The previous oldest-recorded man, Yasutaro Koide of Japan, died in January aged 112 years and 312 days.

As he received his Guinness World Records certificate, Kristal said he did not know the ‘secret for long life’ and that he believed everything was ‘determined from above’.

‘There have been smarter, stronger and better looking men than me who are no longer alive,’ he added.

‘All that is left for us to do is to keep on working as hard as we can and rebuild what is lost.’

The son of a religious scholar, Kristal was separated from his parents during World War One. 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.

BDST: 1224 HRS, MAR 12, 2016
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