Minna Weizmann Minna Weizmann Minna Weizmann (1889–?) was a Russian Jewish doctor who served in Syria and Palestine during World War I. Weizmann also served as a spy for Germany. Weizmann was born in present-day Motal, Belarus (then part of the Russian Empire) to a prominent family. Her parents were Oizer and Rachel Czermerinsky Weizmann. Weizmann's most famous sibling was Chaim Weizmann, the President of Zionist Organization and the first President of Israel. Weizmann attended medical school in Berlin. She was a socialist who hated the czarist government. In 1913, she immigrated to Palestine, where she became one of the few female
Chaim Weizmann of Mandate Palestine. In 1942, Weizmann was invited by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to work on the problem of synthetic rubber. Weizmann proposed to produce butyl alcohol from maize, then convert it to butylene and further to butadiene, which is a basis for rubber. According to his memoirs, these proposals were barred by the oil companies. In 1939, a conference was established at St James's Palace when the government drew up the May 1939 White Paper which severely curtailed any spending in the Jewish Home Land. Yishuv was put back to the lowest priority. At the outbreak of war the