The Jewish National Council of Palestine today proclaimed the month of May as a ” Aaronsohn Month” in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the death of Aaron Aaronsohn, agronomist and political leader, who in the last world war organized a Jewish intelligence service in Palestine which helped England to defeat the Central Powers in the Middle East.
Aaronsohn died in May 1919 in a plane crash while flying over the English Channel. He agreed to do intelligence work for the British on the condition that Palestine be given to the Jews after the war. His sister, Sarah, joined him in this work and succeeded in securing important documents from German and Turkish officers which she delivered in 1917 to British military headquarters. She was later arrested by the Turks and tortured for several days until she committed suicide.
Aaronsohn visited the United States in 1909 upon the invitation of the Department of Agriculture. He was born in Rumania in 1876 and came to Palestine with his parents in 1882. His father was one of the founders of Zikhron Yakov, one of the oldest settlements in Palestine.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
