Aliza Begin

Aliza Begin was born in 1920 in Drohobych

Aliza Arnold was born in 1920 in Drohobych, Galicia, to a wealthy family. Her father was a partner in the region's oil wells. She began learning Hebrew at 7, joined Betar at 14, and finished high school in 1938.

In 1939 she married Menachem Begin, and Ze'ev Jabotinsky attended the wedding. After the German invasion of Poland the couple fled to Vilnius, where Soviet forces arrested her husband in 1940. She later reached Mandatory Palestine, was held for several weeks at the Atlit detainee camp, and then studied archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

She reunited with her husband in 1942. During his years leading the Irgun underground, she moved between hiding places and used false names. Her parents and twin sister were killed in the Holocaust.

After her husband became prime minister in 1977, she joined him at the 1978 Camp David conference. She volunteered for people with disabilities and helped raise donations for related organizations. She avoided media interviews and used public transportation.

She suffered from a lung disease for many years. She died in 1982 while her husband was visiting the United States and was buried on the Mount of Olives.