July 17: Hannah Senesh

Hannah Senesh, a Hungarian Jew who lived in Palestine and was trained by the British as an anti-Nazi fighter, was born on this day in 1921. She emigrated to Palestine and joined the paramilitary Haganah in 1941. In March, 1944, after enlisting and training in the British army, Senesh, Yoel Palgi and Peretz Goldstein parachuted into Yugoslavia and joined Tito’s partisan fighters there, with the hope of somehow aiding Central Europe’s Jewish communities. In June, as Hungary’s Jews were being massively deported to their deaths, Senesh entered the country and was captured at the border by Hungarian fascist police. She was tortured repeatedly but gave no information, even when her mother was dragged into prison with her. Senesh was executed by firing squad on November 7, 1944 at age 23. Her diary, in which she wrote until her last day, was published in Hebrew in 1946. Several of her poems have become popular songs in Israel and in Jewish communities around the world, including the last one she wrote after parachuting into Yugoslavia: Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame . . .

“My God, My God, I pray that these things never end,
The sand and the sea,
The rustle of the waters,
The lightning of the heavens,
The prayer of humanity.” —Hannah Senesh