JERUSALEM (JTA) — A 93-year-old great-grandmother who had survived the Auschwitz death camp was crowned Miss Holocaust Survivor.
Tova Ringer, who lost her parents, four sisters and a grandmother at Auschwitz, won the beauty pageant in Haifa on Sunday.
“I’m very happy. It’s something special. I wouldn’t believe that at my age I would be a beauty,” she told Reuters.
Ringer was crowned with a silver tiara and a blue-and-white sash proclaiming her the queen of the contest, which has been organized each year since 2012 by Yad Ezer L’Haver, or Helping Hand, a group that helps needy Holocaust survivors in Israel.
A crowd of thousands attended the event, including Knesset members and government ministers, as well as hundreds of Holocaust survivors, The Times of Israel reported.
Fewer than 200,000 Holocaust survivors live in Israel today, according to the news website.
