Colonel Shoshana Gershom, commanding officer of Chen, the women’s army of Israel, arrived in the United States for a six–week speaking tour of American and Canadian cities on behalf of the Israel bond drive. She will be the guest of honor at a score of Israel bond rallies in celebration of the tenth anniversary of Chen, which will be marked officially in Israel on June 4th.
Colonel Gershom, a heroine of the Sinal campaign and of the War of Liberation has long been active in Jewish defense. She was a pivotal figure in Haganah, the defense army of the Jewish community of Palestine in the days of the British Mandate. During that period, she was also a research worker in science at the Hebrew University. During World War II, as one of the first four to graduate a British Army officer’s course for women, Colonel Gershom led a unit of women drivers in Egypt. Later, as a member of the Jewish Brigade, she was sent to Italy.
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.