Dr. Ruth Westeimer (1942-1948)

In January 1939 Karola Ruth Siegel was sent to Switzerland by her mother and grandmother after her father was taken by the Nazis. By 1941, both her parents were presumed dead and Westheimer was left on her own. At 17 she emigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine, and dedicated to the building of a Jewish homeland, joined Haganah, an underground Jewish military organization. Despite her diminutive height (4’7”), she served as a sniper and a sharpshooter. Says Dr. Ruth of that interval…