Born: 1890 (Zichron Yaakov, Ottoman Syria)
Died: 1917
Biography:
Sarah Aaronsohn (Hebrew: שרה אהרנסון; 5 January 1890 – 9 October 1917) was a remarkable woman who played a significant role as a spy during World War I. Born in Zichron Yaakov, a town in Ottoman Syria, Sarah was a member of Nili, a ring of Jewish spies working for the British. Her contributions to the war effort and the sacrifices she made have earned her the title of the heroine of Nili.
Sarah’s parents were early Zionist settlers from Romania who had come to Ottoman Palestine as part of the First Aliyah. They were founders of the moshava, or agricultural settlement, where Sarah was born. Growing up in a household that valued education and activism, Sarah was encouraged by her brother Aaron to study languages. She became fluent in Hebrew, Yiddish, Turkish, and French. She also had a reasonable command of Arabic and taught herself English.
In 1914, Sarah married a wealthy merchant from Bulgaria named Haim Abraham. The marriage, however, was unhappy, and Sarah returned to Zichron Yaakov in December 1915. On her way back from Istanbul to Haifa, Sarah witnessed the horrors of the Armenian genocide. She saw hundreds of bodies of Armenian men, women, and children, and observed sick Armenians being loaded onto trains, with the dead being thrown out to make room for the living. These experiences deeply affected Sarah and contributed to her decision to assist the British forces.
Sarah, along with her sister Rivka, and her brothers Aaron and Alexander, formed and led the Nili spy organization. Aaronsohn oversaw operations in Palestine, collecting and passing valuable information to British agents offshore. She also traveled extensively through Ottoman territory, gathering intelligence to aid the British cause. Nili eventually became the largest pro-British espionage network in the Middle East, boasting a network of approximately 40 spies.
Despite warnings from her brother Alex to remain in British-controlled Egypt due to the increasing hostilities from the Ottomans, Sarah chose to return to Zichron Yaakov to continue her work for Nili. Her commitment to the cause knew no bounds, and she braved great risks to serve her mission.
Tragically, in September 1917, the Ottomans intercepted one of Sarah’s carrier pigeons carrying a message to the British and decrypted the Nili code. Realizing that their network had been compromised, Sarah became desperate. She was taken captive by the Ottomans, subjected to brutal torture, and interrogated relentlessly.
Refusing to betray her comrades, Sarah chose to end her own life. On October 9, 1917, she ingested poison hidden in a lemon and succumbed to its effects. Sarah Aaronsohn’s sacrifice and unwavering loyalty to the British cause made her a martyr for the Nili organization and a symbol of bravery and resilience.
Awards:
– Sarah Aaronsohn was posthumously awarded the Legion of Honor, France’s highest order of merit, in recognition of her extraordinary valor and commitment to the Allied cause during World War I.