The Lives and Deaths of Female Military Casualties in Israel During the 1950s

Between January 1, 1950 and December 31, 1960, 1671 Israeli soldiers and other defense personnel lost their lives; of these, 51 were women. Of the 51 female military casualties, 30 were born in Eretz-Israel and 21 were born abroad. The article examines the lives and deaths of these female military casualties. Special focus is given to those who were immigrants and went through the dialectic process of assimilation versus alienation. In addition to examining the entire body of female military casualties and their collective profile, the article charts the differences between the native and immigrant female military casualties of the 1950s in a number of sectors: ethnicity, education, youth movement membership, army service branch, age at the time of death, date of death, cause of death, and methods of commemoration.