Defiant to the end.
- Mar 7
- 1 min read
"There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world even though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for humankind." H. Szenes
1939 was a pivotal year for Hannah Szenes. She was a young Hungarian woman, only 18 years old and already an accomplished poet. Life, however, was becoming increasingly dangerous for Jews in her beloved Budapest. Laws were passed which limited Jewish participation in the economy by 80% and soon thereafter, Jews were identified as a "racial" group rather than a religious one.
And so young Hannah left Hungary for the British-controlled territory which today makes up Israel and Jordan. She continued to write, but the horror in Europe could scarcely be ignored. In 1943, Hannah joined the British Army and volunteered to parachute behind enemy lines into Yugoslavia, with assistance to Hungarian partisans her ultimate goal.
She successfully joined the partisans in March of 1944, but was captured by Hungarian police just three months later. She was severely tortured in captivity for several months, but refused to give up any information. At her sham trial in October, she remained steadfast in defending her resistance against tyranny. She was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad on November 7, 1944. Defiant to the end, she refused to wear a blindfold and stared her executioner square in the eye. Hannah Szenes was 23 years old.
