BEYTH, HANS

BEYTH, HANS (1901–1947), youth aliyah leader. Beyth, who was born in Bleicherode, Germany, was active in his youth in the blau-weiss zionist youth movement. In 1935 he went to Palestine, where he worked as henrietta szold 's assistant in Youth Aliyah. His resourcefulness in rescuing and warmth in educating the Youth Aliyah wards made him an outstanding personality in the organization. He was instrumental in the establishment of Youth Aliyah institutions in communal settlements, and in the absorption of many wards into kibbutz life. Beyth was sent to Europe at the end of World War II to prepare the emigration and absorption of surviving Jewish children. In the last year of his life he arranged for the care of 20,000 wards. Beyth was murdered by Arabs in December 1947 while on his way home to Jerusalem from Haifa and Athlit, where he had been welcoming children on their arrival from a youth village in Cyprus. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hans Beyth, Ish Aliyyat ha-No'ar (1951); Im Gedenken an Hans Beyth, (1948), published by the Jewish Agency. (Arye Lipshitz)