Who is the Oldest Holocaust Survivor in the World and Who is the Youngest Auschwitz Survivor?

In 2016, Holocaust survivor Israel Kristal, then 112 years old, was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the oldest man living on earth, based on documents found in Poland that confirmed his age. He proudly claimed to be the oldest person of his generation to put on tefillin. Just days before his 114th birthday, Kristal, who at the time was the world’s oldest Holocaust survivor, passed away.

Kristal was born in 1903 to a Jewish family in Poland and began studying in cheder at age 3. At 10, he was orphaned from his mother, and by the end of World War I, from his father as well.

In 1920, he moved to Lodz and began working in the family candy factory. Eight years later, he married and had two children. When Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany in World War II, he continued making candy in the Lodz ghetto but lost his two children.

"During the years they lived in the Lodz ghetto, his two sons died of disease at ages 8 and 10. What somewhat shielded Israel and his wife for most of that time was his candy-making skill," said his daughter Shula Kupershtuch in an interview. "The Germans celebrated birthdays and weddings, and my father was the one who made all their sweets. This was his lifeline, because thanks to the candies, my father was vital in the ghetto and wasn't sent to the camps—only toward the end. For the Germans, birthdays are an event, so candies and chocolates were essential for their celebrations. My father's candy production met their needs, and initially, they protected him and even provided him with raw materials."

The late Israel Kristal

Kristal and his wife remained in the ghetto and in May 1944 were sent to Auschwitz in one of the last transfers. The two spent twelve months in Auschwitz, were sent to labor camps, and endured the death march. Kristal then weighed only 37 kilograms. His wife, Feige, did not survive.

After the war, Kristal returned to Lodz and re-established the candy factory. In the city, he met Batsheva, who also lost her family in the Holocaust, and they married and immigrated to Israel in 1950. They had three children, though one died in infancy.

Throughout most of his life, Kristal made candies, even after retiring, but he missed one thing—a Bar Mitzvah ceremony. Due to World War I, he missed his Bar Mitzvah celebration. Therefore, he decided to have an aliyah to the Torah... 100 years late! His daughter Shula once said that "it always bothered him that he didn't have a Bar Mitzvah celebration. This was a redemptive experience."

Just days shy of his 114th birthday, Kristal passed away, leaving behind a daughter and son, many grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. "I was blessed to have a wonderful father who gave me a lot of confidence and strength," said his daughter Shula after his passing. "Despite everything he went through, and he lost his entire family in the Holocaust, he was very optimistic. In everything he always saw only the light and the good. He had perspective, and he knew what mattered and what didn’t. That’s what I take from him. I remember that when my husband passed away, he said to me, 'Take comfort in the fact that he has a burial plot. Many people in Auschwitz perished and were burned, and did not receive a burial. Here he is buried in the soil of the Holy Land.'"

Peter Greenfeld – The Youngest Survivor

Peter Greenfeld was born in 1940 and is the youngest of Auschwitz's survivors. His life story serves as the basis for Yossi Sarid's book "Papichak: He Didn't Know His Name."

Greenfeld was born in Prague as Josef (Papichak) Kleinman. He had a twin sister named Marta and an older sister named Amalia. At age 4, five family members were taken by the Nazis to Terezín in the Czech Republic and from there transferred to Auschwitz. Upon entering the camp, he was separated from his parents and sisters and taken to Dr. Mengele's twins block, where he stayed until the camp was liberated. His twin sister was sent to the twins' block. Greenfeld never saw his family members alive again.

The late Peter Greenfeld. Photo: Sheli Haziza

Dr. Mengele conducted experiments on humans, especially twins, through great torture. The cruel experiments led to functional difficulties for Greenfeld until his last day. When the camp was liberated and Greenfeld was freed, he was only 5 years old, the youngest survivor to come out of Auschwitz alive. He didn’t remember his name, except for the nickname Papichak that his mother gave him. Upon leaving the camp, little Greenfeld fell asleep on the snow until he was found by a man named Shmuel Greenfeld, who took him home and gave him his name. After his death, Shmuel's daughter officially adopted Peter. They lived in Hungary until Greenfeld met his wife and they had three children. In 1979 they immigrated to Israel.

Throughout his life, Greenfeld wanted to commemorate the Holocaust, and he accompanied journeys to Poland as a witness. On one of these journeys, he met then-Knesset member Yossi Sarid and shared with him the horrors of his days in the Holocaust. Sarid said that Greenfeld suffered from pain throughout his life following the severe torture he endured but lacked the financial means to buy medicine. Sarid immortalized his life story in the book "Papichak: He Didn't Know His Name."

Greenfeld lived alone in his home in Ashkelon and passed away about four years ago.