Image by getty images

Tacky or Moving? Elderly Holocaust survivors competed in a beauty contest. Image by getty images

A beauty pageant for Holocaust survivors was held in Haifa, Israel, and featured female survivors walking down a red carpet and sharing details of their travails during World War II.

Fourteen women, aged 74 to 97, participated according to news reports. Romanian native Hava Hershkovitz, 79, was crowned the winner.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Organizers called the event a celebration of life, but critics denounced it as trivializing the horrors of the Holocaust.

Shimon Sabag, who organized the event, said the 14 finalists had been chosen from hundreds of applicants based on their personal stories and later roles in their communities in Israel, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation.

?It?s not easy at this age to be in a beauty contest,? the silver-haired Hershkovitz said, according to the Associated Press. ?But we?re all doing it to show that we?re still alive.?

Collete Avital, chairwoman of the umbrella group the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, said ??It sounds totally macabre to me,? according to the AP. ?I am in favor of enriching lives, but a one-time pageant masquerading [survivors] with beautiful clothes is not what is going to make their lives more meaningful.?

[]: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/world/middleeast/holocaust-survivors-pageant-taps-into-a-conflict-in-israel.html?hp&gwh=3906974186B1642B43565184668A5B1F

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount