Shoshana Spector ^People

Her family emigrated to Palestine shortly after her birth and settled at first in Jaffa. By 1929, when the next round of anti-Jewish violence broke out, Shosh hadmoved with her family to Balfouria, a Moshav near Afula. She recalled her father forti- fying the perimeter of the moshav and put the women and children in a drained reser-voir in case they were attacked. Shosh forgave Sadeh who, in November, 1941, brought Shosh into the Palmach as its secretary. She soon becameappointed to be the PalmachAdjutant, an official member of the Palmach top command.The Hagana Chief of Staff, Yaakov Dori, opposed her appointment because hefelt it was inappropriate for a woman to serve as a high-ranking officer, since she may need to be in the field in combat conditions. Sade insisted and Dori backed down.Shosh held the position until Palmach's dissolution in 1948, and rose to the rank of Major, thehighest ranking woman in the Palmach. Shosh played a key role in staff- ing, recruiting, and assigning Palmach operatives to their respective units. Only the top Palmach commanders had more authority in the critical area of human resources. Shoshana Spector's strong-willed personality and indomitable spirit infected thosearound her and imprinted on the organization she helped create, the Palmach.She is one of the many women of Israel's founding generation, most of whosestories of sacrifice and grim determination have not been sufficiently told.