IN PHOTOS: A Beauty Pageant for Holocaust Survivors

Thirteen women who survived the Nazi effort to exterminate European Jews took part in the third annual "Miss Holocaust Survivor" beauty pageant in Haifa on Tuesday evening.

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After facing some tough competition, including former "Miss Holocaust Survivor" beauty queen Hava Hershkovitz, 82, Rita Berkowitz, 83, took the crown.

Berkowitz is the mother of one, grandmother of six and great-grandmother of five, according to Reuters.

In a message for “the entire people of Israel,” she said: “That all Jews from all across the world will come (to Israel), all of them. And we shall be stronger. We are not afraid of anyone. The Jew will never disappear from the world.”

The pageant was organized by the Helping Hand organization, which aids thousands of the some 200,000 Holocaust survivors living in Israel.

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Stela Krashes, 85, a Holocaust survivor, has her make-up done. November 24, 2015.Credit: Reuters

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Rita Berkowitz, 83, a Holocaust survivor and winner of a beauty contest for survivors of the Nazi genocide, waves on a stage, in the northern Israeli city of Haifa. November 24, 2015.Credit: Reuters

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Rivka Kushnir, 85, waits backstage. November 24, 2015.Credit: Reuters