Broad smiles and enduring spirit at Holocaust survivors’ beauty contest

By Amir Cohen HAIFA, Israel (Reuters) - To the strains of Madonna's "Vogue", the 13 women with a combined age of about 1,050 strutted down the runway cautiously, hindered only slightly by walking sticks and the odd dodgy hip. The third annual Holocaust survivors' beauty pageant, honoring women who lived through the concentration camps and death marches of Nazi Germany, was held in the city of Haifa this week with hundreds of relatives turning out in support. "Many of them were children, teenagers or young adults during the Holocaust," said Jurgen Buhler, the German director of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, a sponsor.