It's half beauty contest, half celebration of life and a full blown controversy. Fourteen Holocaust survivors vied for the title of Israel's first "Miss Holocaust Survivor":
The youngest contestant was aged 74 and the oldest 97. Billed by organizers as a celebration of life, the event stirred controversy. In a country where millions have been touched by the Holocaust, many argued that judging aging women who had suffered so much on physical appearance was inappropriate, and even offensive.
"It sounds totally macabre to me," said Colette Avital, chairman of Israel's leading Holocaust survivors' umbrella group. "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."
Pageant organizer Shimon Sabag rejected the criticism, saying the winners were chosen based on their personal stories of survival and rebuilding their lives after the war, and physical beauty was only a tiny part of the competition.
The Telegraph has more: Link
Previously on Neatorama: Odd and Extraordinary Beauty Pageants