The Aaronsohn Saga

by Shmuel Katz

A celebrated botanist, who had won world fame as the discoverer of 'wild wheat,' Aaron Aaronsohn (1876 1919) created the first Jewish Agricultural Experiment Station in Palestine then under Turkish rule in 1910. His venture was supported and funded from the u.s. by a group which included Julius Rosenwald, Justices Louis D. Brandeis and Felix Frankfurter (both later on the u.s. Supreme Court), Judah L. Magnes (later President of the Hebrew University), and Henrietta Szold, the founder of Hadassah. In World War I, reacting against the oppressive Turkish regime, Aaronsohn founded a Jewish spy organization, nili, to help the British in the forthcoming battle for Palestine. Here is told the story of Aaronsohn, who is revealed as a master of strategy, and his sister Sarah, whose self-sacrificing devotion to the cause shows her to be a great historic personality in her own right. Historian Shmuel Katz here rectifies the absence of a comprehensive biography of Aaronsohn and the nili spy ring. Meticulously researched British War Office intelligence documents and the letters and field reports of nili s central figures illustrate the crucial contribution made by nili to the British conquest of Palestine. Powerfully written, with deep sensitivity to the emotional lives of the people portrayed, The Aaronsohn Saga is both solid history and a marvelous read.

Genres: Nonfiction

370 pages, Hardcover

First published December 20, 2007

Reviews

[Judy Chessin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rather obsessed with the Nili spy ring, and I suppose this is the most I'll ever get to learn about it in the English language. Fascinating lives and fascinating times.

[Jeff Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A detailed biography of a most amazing man and his amazing sister who provided expert spy reports behind the lines in Palestine during WW1, precise and encyclopedic information that was instrumental in the British victory there over the Turkish army. Aaron Aaronsohn was a great man, charismatic and immediately engaging on any subject, an agricultural scientist who saw several new ways to make profound improvements in dry field farming that benefitted California and abroad as much as it did Palestine, and who, through his work, became connected to people of power throughout the Middle East, Europe and America. It is a pleasure to be in the presence of such a great man and the writer treats us to a good bit of that. Then comes the turmoil and the marathon of suffering involved in his spying... incredible. And, despite the brutal savagery of the Turks (the genocide of the Armenians), Aaronsohn's most vicious enemies were within his own Zionist community, poisoned by petty jealousies and unthinking conformity.
Sarah Aaronsohn steps in to run the show while Aaron is stuck in Cairo with the British command, and she becomes a hero; a wise leader, loved by all, who makes the ultimate sacrifice.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read. You need some background knowledge of WWI in Palestine. Aaron Aaronsohn was a brilliant man and his sister, Sarah Aaronsohn was a real heroine!

[Matthew Henken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting history of a fascinating figure about whom I knew nothing.