Enlarge image
Salina Steinfeld shortly after her coronation as "Miss Holocaust Survivor"
Photo: NIR ELIAS / Reuters
"I have no words to express my happiness," says Selina Steinfeld.
The 86-year-old was named "Miss Holocaust Survivor" on Tuesday.
She enjoyed this special day of pampering enormously, explained Steinfeld.
She hopes "to lead the people of Israel to beauty and goodness".
Steinfeld prevailed against nine competitors on Tuesday, the candidates for the competition were between 79 and 90 years old. During the day, stylists and hair and make-up experts prepared them for their appearance, and in the evening the beauty contest took place in a museum in Jerusalem. Several local celebrities were among the judges, including Miss Israel, Noa Kochba.
The competition has been sponsored annually since 2012 by a local foundation called Yad Ezer L'Haver, which cares for Holocaust survivors.
Last year he had to be out because of the corona pandemic.
"These wonderful women and Holocaust survivors won't be with us much longer," said Shimon Sabag, the group's chairman.
"The Holocaust survivors are our true heroines, and thanks to them we are here today."
more on the subject
Vote for "Miss Holocaust Survivors": "We are still there"
According to the organizers, the competition aims to bring glamor and respect to a dwindling number of Jewish women whose youth were stolen during World War II;
who then built a new life for themselves in Israel.
Critics of the competition, however, argue that it is tasteless and does not do justice to the memory of the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust.
According to the organizers, winner Steinfeld grew up in Romania and survived the atrocities of the Nazis there.
She came to Israel in 1948, married, and raised three children.
Today she is reported to have seven grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.
Her co-candidate Kuka Palmon also comes from Romania.
"After everything I went through during the Holocaust, I would never have dreamed that I would be where I am now with a big family: two children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren," she said during of the competition.
"And yet here I am, at this old age, 87. It's a divine thing, it's indescribable."
aar / AP / Reuters