Hela Yungst Hochman (January 15, 1950 - February 24, 2002), also known as Hela Young, was an American television entertainer and beauty pageant winner. She was a promoter of

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

awareness and a former president of the

New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education The New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education is a government agency of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its core mission is to promote Holocaust education throughout the state by surveying, designing, encouraging and promoting Holocaust and genoc ...

. Yungst was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Eva (''née'' Faiman) and Henry; both were survivors of The Holocaust. The family moved to the United States in 1956 where she first lived in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Hillside, New Jersey Hillside is a township in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 21,404, reflecting a decline of 343 (−1.6%) from the 21,747 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in ...

and graduated from Hillside High School in 1967, where she was a member of the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

. She graduated from Newark State College (now

Kean University Kean University () is a public university in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey, Union and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Kean University was founded in 1855 in Newark, New Jersey, as th ...

) with a B.A. in music education and theatre. Yungst was

Miss New Jersey The Miss New Jersey competition is an annual pageant held to select the representative for the state of New Jersey in the Miss America pageant. Two Miss New Jersey winners have gone on to hold the title of Miss America: Bette Cooper who won in ...

1970, representing the state in the

Miss America 1971 Miss America 1971, the 44th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 12, 1970. The Women's liberation movement, Women's Liberation Front demonstrated at the event and Miss Iowa 1970, Cheryl ...

pageant in

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

. The

Women's Liberation Front The Women's Liberation Front (WoLF) is an American self-described radical feminist organization that opposes transgender rights and gender identity legislation. It has engaged in litigation on transgender topics, working against the Obama administ ...

demonstrated at the event. Yungst was not a finalist, however, losing to

Miss Texas The Miss Texas competition was founded in 1937 as a scholarship contest for young women. The winner represents Texas in the Miss America pageant; three winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America (but none since 1975). To become Miss Texas ...

1970,

Phyllis George Phyllis Ann George (June 25, 1949 – May 14, 2020) was an American businesswoman, actress, and sportscaster. In 1975, George was hired as a reporter and co-host of the CBS Sports pre-show ''The NFL Today'', becoming one of the first women ...

. In August 1971, Yungst traveled to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

with George;

Miss Nevada The Miss Nevada competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Nevada in the Miss America competition, and the name of the title held by that winner. The first Nevadan to compete at Miss America was Carol Lampe in 19 ...

1970, Vicky Jo Todd;

1970,

Cheryl Browne Cheryl Adrienne Browne Hollingsworth, Miss Iowa 1970, is a former ballet dancer who was the first African American contestant in the history of the Miss America pageant (Miss America 1971) following the abolition of the pageant's rule number sev ...

;

Miss Iowa The Miss Iowa competition is the official preliminary for the state of Iowa in the Miss America Scholarship Competition. Bailey Hodson of Des Moines was crowned Miss Iowa 2022 on June 11, 2022 at Adler Theatre in Davenport, Iowa. She compete ...

1970, Karen Shields;

Miss Arkansas The Miss Arkansas competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Arkansas in the Miss America pageant. Arkansas has won the Miss America title three times (1964, 1982, 2017). Ebony Mitchell of Harrison was crowned Mi ...

1970, Donna Connelly; and

1970 (George's replacement), Belinda Myrick. They participated in a 22-day

United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

tour for American troops there. The tour began in

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

. Browne later commented that she thought "it was one of the last Miss America groups to go to Vietnam." Yungst was a performer on stage and in films, television commercials and soap operas, appearing in ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'' and ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

''. She changed her name to Hela Young and became the

New Jersey Lottery The New Jersey Lottery is run by the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its In-house draw games are: Pick-3, Pick-4, Jersey Cash 5, Pick-6, Quick Draw, and Cash Pop. Its multi-jurisdictional draw games are: Cash4Life, Mega Millions, and Powerball. The ...

hostess in January 1977 on NJN drawing the nightly winning numbers. She left television in November 2001 due to illness. She resided with her husband and daughter in

Mountainside, New Jersey Mountainside is a borough in Union County, New Jersey, United States. The borough is located on a ridge in northern- central New Jersey, within the Raritan Valley and Rahway Valley regions in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 Un ...

and died in 2002 due to cancer. The New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education presents "The Hela Young Award" each year "to honor a person in recognition of outstanding work in the community for the improvement of human relations among diverse peoples and for the improvement of the human condition.""Hela Young Award"
New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education website, accessed September 18, 2009.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yungst, Hela 1950 births 2002 deaths Hillside High School (New Jersey) alumni Israeli emigrants to the United States Kean University alumni Miss America 1971 delegates People from Edison, New Jersey People from Hillside, New Jersey People from Mountainside, New Jersey People from Newark, New Jersey Year of birth unknown 20th-century American people