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Hannah Senesh: Her Life and Diary, the First Complete Edition

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The story of Hannah Senesh is the story of a heroine of the Jewish people. This volume contains her diary including a record of her early years in Hungry and her time in Eretz Yisrael, two chapters about her by her mother, and chapters by fellow soldiers in the British Army from the Yishuv who served with her when they were dropped behind enemy lines during the War. Hannah Senesh was the daughter of a well- known Hungarian playwright who died when she was six. She and her older brother were raised by a very caring and devoted mother . In her school where she was outstanding she suffered from Anti- Semitism. And as Nazi power grew in Europe she moved toward a deeper connection to her own Jewishness, at one point announcing that she had become a Zionist. Her diary records her decision to go to Eretz Yisrael, and her years of education there at Nahalal. It is the diary of a spirited, intelligent and idealistic person. She volunteered to serve in the British Army Unit which was to be dropped behind enemy lines in the hope of helping rescue Jews. She and her fellow soldiers from the Yishuv were connected with the Partisans' struggle against the Nazis in Yugoslavia. The day before she was about to enter her native Hungry where she most hoped to help the Nazis entered and took control of Hungry. Upon hearing this news she cried. A friend asked her if this was because she was thinker of her mother. She said ' That the entrance of the Germans to Hungry doomed one - million Hungarian Jews to death. She was not wrong. The greatest share of Hungarian Jews were eventually murdered by the Nazis. She entered Hungry was captured, and was placed in prison. The Nazis brought her mother to the prison , and told Senesh that if she did not give them the information that they wanted the secret radio codes she had they would torture her mother before her eyes. She begged her mother's forgiveness, and she herself was tortured. But she did not give away the information. Eventually she was taken out and shot to death . All those associated with her admired her tremendous courage and integrity .
Her ambition was to be like her father a writer, but not a playwright but a novelist. Her love and dedication to the Jewish people in the land of Israel that she came to love so much are strongly apparent in the work.
Perhaps the best tribute to her is her own words,
"There are stars whose radiance is visible on earth though they have long been extinct.There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for Mankind.'

I was very pleased with this book and the ease with which it could be read. I am glad to see that such a work is available to help inform those of us who knew nothing about Hannah Senesh. I have great respect for people who see their destiny and unflinchingly follow through. God has raised up people in the past to serve as examples and I believe that in many ways Hannah represents just such an example not just for the Jewish people but for all of us everywhere.

I had never heard of Hannah Senesh until I planned to go to Israel and was looking at possible places to visit. After I heard about her I wanted to know more. This book tells the story, in her own words of how a young Jewish woman came to be an Israeli hero. It makes me wonder if I too would have the courtage of conviction to stand up for something even to death. A very remarkable story indeed.

I admit I asked myself a few times, "What is a grown man doing reading a teenage girl's diary?"

Well, I'm glad I did.

"Hannah Senesh: Her Life and Diary," is both the story of an incredible, heroic young woman and a fascinating first-person, in-real-time account of life in pre-state Israel and in Nazi-ravaged Europe.

The book, which was published in 2007 in conjunction with filmmaker Roberta Grossman's excellent documentary about Senesh, is divided into three distinct sections.

Most of the book consists of Hannah's diaries and letters, in which she describes the spread of the Nazi menace and evolution of the kibbutz movement. You have to wade through some fairly tedious descriptions of summer vacations, but it's worth the effort.

The book ascends to its dramatic peak, and it's a very high peak, in the second section, which consists of three self-written narratives. Two were written by members of Hannah's parachutist unit, which dropped into Yugoslavia on a daring mission to rescue the Jews of neighboring Hungary. The other is from Hannah's mother Catherine, who waged a desperate but ultimately futile effort to spare Hannah from execution.

Finally, the book concludes with a sampling of Hannah's poems, including the classic - at least an Israeli would recognize it as a classic - "Blessed Is the Match."

Although Judaism and Zionism are central themes of Senesh's life, many of the values that she so boldly expressed and embodied transcend religion and ethnicity.

"Hannah Senesh: Her Life and Diary" should probably be required reading for all Jewish teenagers. Perhaps for all teenagers. And maybe even for grown men.

This very moving book contains the diary, letters, and selected poems of one of the State of Israel's heroes. Eight people add eight views about Hannah, her upbringing outside of Palestine, her strong attachment to the land of her ancestors, her travel to and work in Palestine, how and why she joined the British military, a nation who controlled Palestine before 1948, to fight against the Germans, how she parachuted into enemy lines in 1944 to help liberate captured British soldiers, was captured herself, tortured, and shot. She was the only female in the parachute group. People found it hard to believe that a woman would jump from a plane, especially into enemy lines. The Nazis caught her because of the behavior of a fellow soldier and they tortured her for long periods of time. "They asked her one thing, only one thing: what is your radio code? ... Hannah didn't reveal it." Her body was abused. Her eyes were blackened. There were ugly welts on her checks and neck. Some of her teeth were missing. She could hardly walk. But she refused to give up the code because it would have resulted in the death of many English soldiers.

She was born in Budapest on July 17, 1921, to a wealthy, distinguished, and acculturated Hungarian Jewish family. Her father was a well-known writer. She received a good education in Hungarian schools, but suffered anti-Semitism there. She was a natural leader. Her first grade teacher told her mother that when she had to leave the class, she would tell Hannah to sit in her chair and Hannah would tell the children stories while they listened in silence. She had a strong feeling for Jews. She told her mother that even if she was not born a Jew she would still help them, "by all possible means, a people who were being treated so unjustly now, and who had been abused so miserably throughout history. She arrived in what was then called Palestine in 1939, a name given to Israel by the Romans who attempted to erase all memory of Jews and Israel, when Hitler was trying to do the same, but more inhumanly.

On June 9, 1944, just before she parachuted into Nazi-controlled territory, she gave her friend a piece of paper. She said, "If I don't return, give this to our people. This friend writes: "It was `Blessed Is the Match,' the poem every Israeli, young or old, can now recite from memory."

Blessed is the match consumed
in kindling flame.
Blessed is the flame that burns
in the secret fastness of the heart.
Blessed is the heart with strength to stop
its beating for honor's sake.
Blessed is the match consumed
in kindling flame.

In her final poem before her death, she wrote:

I gambled on what mattered most,
The dice were cast, I lost.

So she thought. But her body was brought to Israel in 1950 and reburied with honors in the "Parachutists section" of the military cemetery on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem. She was "a modern-day Joan of Arc, the type of heroine who comes along once in a century - bold, brilliant, and uncommonly courageous." She fought back.

Hannah Senesh is the story every Jew should know, a heroic woman who fought the Nazis, parachutting into Europe in the worlds darkest hour, but beyond that her wonderful diaries tell the story of a young Jeiwsh girl finding herself, and her Jewishness amid the tumult of Europe and the Kibbutzes of Aretz Israel. This is a wonderful new volume on a true Jeiwsh Heroin, a message to all generations that evil must be confronted, ironically sometimes it is the most unlikely people that rise to the occasion. A heartrending book.

Seth J. Frantzman

For such a small stature as Hannah was, she is one of WWII's, strongest women. It is a must read for any philosophical or history buff. In addition, would make a great movie if someone would be wllling to do so.

Once you pick up this book you will devour it. Her life and who she was will remain forever in your memory. I envy her.

For 20 years Hannah's diary still remains so dear to my heart.

Hannah Senesh is known as the Joan of Arc of Israel, and is a national heroine in that little country of heroes and heroines.
Her poems are learned by heart in Israel, and her acts of courage, self-sacrifice and love for her people, has led to forests, parks, streets and settlements throughout the country being named after her.

Her diary, which begins when she was 13, shows her remarkable spirit, intelligence and love for the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.
At the age of 23 she returned to Hungary as part of an Allied to mission to save Jews from the Nazi death machine. She was captured by the Nazis and tortured to reveal more about the mission and her comrades, but never broke under these circumstances. Her heroic and cruel death at the hands of the Nazis is recounted.

The book is divided into several sections:
Memories of Hannah's Childhood by Catherine Senesh, the Diary, the Letters, and the acounts by friends and comrades of her courageous mission into Hungary, and her cruel death at the hands of the Nazis.
The final section consists of a reproduction of some of Hannah's finest poems.

Hannah Senesh was born in 1921 to an assimilated Jewish family. Her father, a sucesful journalist and playwright died when Hannah was 6 years old. She was enrolled in a Protestant school. The deteriorating situation of the Jews in Hungary led Hannah to embrace Judaism and Zionism-the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, which she was passionate about and dedicated to.
She became involved in Maccabea, a Hungarian Zionist students organization.
But she also loved beautiful clothes and ice-skating and was enthusiastic about life and living. She was interested in astrology, spiritualism and development of the soul.
The sensitivity of her gem of a soul and her intelligence is shown in this excerpt from her diary. It could serve as a testament to Hannah Senesh herself:
"There are stars whose radiance is visible on earth though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for mankind",-
Indeed in these dark days of the resurgance of anti-Semnitism and the Satanic international campaign to destroy Israel, it is comforting and inspiring to read her words.
Also interesting are Hannah's words about Jewish nationhood and Zionism:
'If we had to define Zionism briefly perhaps we could best do so in the words of Nahum Sokolow: "Zionism is the movement of the Jewish people for it's revival.'
In these days when Jews around the world are being pressured by evil forces to renounce Zionism we would do well to remember Hannah's words.
"We canot renounce a single on of our rights, not even if the ridiculous acusation were true- that Zionism breeds anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is not the result of Zionism but of Dispersion. But even if were no so, woe to the individual who attempts to ingratiate himself with the enemy instead of following his own route. We can't renounce Zionism even if it does strengthen anti-Semitism...For only Zionism and the establishment of a Jewish State could ever bring about the possibility of the Jews in the Diaspora being able to make manifest their love for their Homeland. Because then they could choose to be part of the Homeland- not be necesity but by free will and free choice".
In these days it is so important to remember her words and her story.

Hannah Senesh was a young girl living through the beginnings of Nazi occupation of central Europe. From her diary since age 13, and her letters, her story of life as an unwanted it seems at times teen, girl, comes forth to tell of the makings of a heroine. Probably all of us have these charateristics, most of us do not use them....but we can if we decide!
A painfully wonderful story.. from the thirties and forties, still is wonderful today.
Clif Judy