Dora Bloch

Dora Bloch was born in 1902 in Tel Aviv

Dora Bloch was born Dora Feinberg in Jaffa in October 1902. Her father Joseph Feinberg was among the founders of Rishon LeZion. After his death she grew up in Egypt and later moved to Jerusalem as an adult.

She spoke Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, German, Italian and English. In 1920 she met Aharon Bloch, then serving in the British Army, and they married in 1925. Through him she gained British citizenship, and the couple had 3 sons.

By 1976 she was a widow living in Tel Aviv. In June 1976 she flew on Air France Flight 139 toward New York for her son Daniel's wedding. The plane was hijacked after a stop in Athens and taken to Entebbe, Uganda, where she interpreted between hostages and hijackers.

She fell ill and was taken to Mulago Hospital in Kampala, so she was not freed in the rescue operation on 4 July 1976. Shortly after, she was taken from her hospital bed and killed. Her disappearance led the United Kingdom to cut diplomatic ties with Uganda.

In 1979 Tanzanian soldiers found her body at a sugar plantation near Kampala. It was returned to Israel and buried in Jerusalem. In 2007 British documents confirmed she was murdered by Ugandan authorities on Idi Amin's orders.