17 Facts About Hannah Szenes

Hannah Szenes was a Hungarian Jewish poet and a Special Operations Executive member.

Hannah Szenes was one of 37 Jewish SOE recruits from Mandate Palestine parachuted by the British into Yugoslavia during the Second World War to assist anti-Nazi forces and ultimately in the rescue of Hungarian Jews about to be deported to the German death camp at Auschwitz.

Hannah Szenes was imprisoned and tortured, but refused to reveal details of her mission.

Hannah Szenes was eventually tried and executed by firing squad.

Hannah Szenes is regarded as a national hero in Israel but has largely been forgotten in her birthplace of Hungary according to The Guardian.

Hannah Szenes was born in Budapest on 17 July, 1921, to an assimilated Jewish family in Hungary.

Hannah Szenes's father, Bela, a well known journalist and playwright, died when she was a child.

Hannah Szenes enrolled in a Protestant private school for girls that accepted Catholic and Jewish pupils; however those of the Catholic and Jewish faiths had to pay double and three times the amount Protestants paid.

Hannah Szenes graduated in 1939 and decided to emigrate to Mandatory Palestine in order to study in the Girls' Agricultural School at Nahalal.

Hannah Szenes volunteered and was selected along with 32 others, out of 250 candidates, to be sent on active missions.

Hannah Szenes was taken to a prison, stripped, tied to a chair, then whipped and clubbed for three days.

Hannah Szenes lost several teeth as a result of the beatings.

Hannah Szenes was tried for treason in Hungary on 28 October 1944 by a court appointed by the fascist Arrow Cross regime.

Hannah Szenes was executed by a firing squad on November 7,1944.

Hannah Szenes's remains were brought to Israel in 1950 and buried in the cemetery on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem.

Hannah Szenes's tombstone was brought to Israel in November 2007 and placed in Sdot Yam.

Hannah Szenes was a poet and playwright, writing both in Hungarian and Hebrew.