Hannah Senesh חנה סנש
poet and parachutist dropped into occupied Europe
Hannah Senesh was born in Budapest in 5681 into a comfortable assimilated family. At school she met antisemitic quotas and came to Zionism on her own. In 5699 she left for the Land of Israel, studied at the agricultural school at Nahalal and then lived at kibbutz Sdot Yam near Caesarea.
She wrote poems in Hebrew, plain and very clear. «Eli, Eli» — «my God, may these things never end: the sand and the sea, the rush of the waters» — became one of the best-known songs in the language.
When the destruction of European Jewry became known she volunteered for the parachutists trained by the British army and the Haganah to drop into occupied Europe. In March 5704 she was dropped into Yugoslavia, crossed the Hungarian border and was captured almost at once. She was tortured for the code to her transmitter and her mother was brought to the prison and threatened; she gave nothing away. She refused to plead for mercy and was shot on the 7th of Cheshvan 5705, aged twenty-three.