Beauty and Pain Take Center Stage in Holocaust Pageant

Shoshana Colmer smiles after winning the ‘Miss Holocaust Survivor Beauty Contest
Shoshana Colmer smiles after winning the ‘Miss Holocaust Survivor Beauty Contest’ in Haifa. Photo via RNS/EPA/Jim Hollander

The 18 beauty pageant finalists on stage at Haifa’s basketball stadium wear lovely gowns, their jewelry glitters, and their hair is thick with hairspray.

Unlike typical beauty contestants, the Israeli women standing before a crowd of 2,000 are ages 70 to 94. And all of them experienced the Holocaust.

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