23 Tishrei 5678 – October 9 1917
Zichron Ya’akov
Sarah Aaronsohn, acting head of the NILI spy ring, died four days after attempting suicide in her home in Zikhron Yaakov while ostensibly preparing for transfer to a Turkish prison in Damascus. Having endured four days of torture following her arrest on October 1, Aaronsohn preferred death to the risk of betraying her colleagues. The spy ring founded by her brother, botanist Aaron Aaronson, and Absalom Feinberg, began informing the British of Ottoman troop movements midway through World War I, hoping the Allies would advance from Egypt to conquer the Holy Land.