Maccabi TA joins oldest survivor for 111

Israel Krysztal, the world’s oldest Holocaust survivor, celebrated his 111th birthday with Maccabi Tel Aviv players Tuesday.

Born in Żarnów, Poland, Krysztal was orphaned at age 11. Later, in 1944, he and his wife were sent from the Lodz Ghetto to Auschwitz, where she was killed. Krysztal immigrated to Israel in 1950 where he remarried and rebuilt his life in Haifa.

Maccabi Tel Aviv players Barak Itzhaki and Eden Ben Basat visited Krysztal, a confectioner, at his Haifa home and celebrated his birthday with him on behalf of the soccer club.

During the visit, club owner Mitch Goldhar called from Canada to wish Krysztal a happy birthday and told him “we cannot comprehend the challenges that you have endured, but we can and are incredibly inspired by your courage and spirit.”

The players brought cake and balloons to Krysztal’s party and presented him with a customized jersey bearing his name and “111” on the back.

Ben Basat said that “Israel is inspiring at all levels, a role model who showed us the meaning of being optimistic in life.”