Happy Women’s History Month! Help JWA continue to lift up Jewish women’s stories, this month and every month, by making a gift today!
Close [x]

Show [+]

Dinah Werth

1914–1999

by Esther Herlitz

In Brief

Dinah Werth was active in Jewish defense starting in 1942. She joined the ATS and later served in the Women’s Corps, reaching the rank of colonel.

Article

Born in the Crimea in 1914, Dinah Werth came to Palestine at the age of four and grew up in Athlit. On completing her studies at the Herzlia Hebrew Gymnasia in Tel Aviv, she went to France to study medicine. In 1942, following some years of service in the Haganah, she joined the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service). In 1946 she was sent first to North Africa to assist in illegal immigration to Palestine, and later to Scandinavia to enlist people and raise money for the War of Independence. When the Women’s Corps was established, Werth became its Welfare Officer. In 1949 she worked for the Jewish Agency, responsible for absorption of immigrants from North Africa, and was sent as an emissary to South America. In 1952 she was appointed as officer in charge of the Women’s Corps’s training base and from 1959 to 1964 served as commanding officer of the Women’s Corps with the rank of colonel. She organized national service for women in the Ivory Coast. She died on October 26, 1999.

Have an update or correction? Let us know

Donate

Help us elevate the voices of Jewish women.

donate now

Get JWA in your inbox

Read the latest from JWA from your inbox.

sign up now

How to cite this page

Herlitz, Esther. "Dinah Werth." Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. 27 February 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on March 28, 2024) <http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/werth-dinah>.