Hannah Senesh
Imprisoned, tried and subsequently executed in Budapest,
1944
Hannah was 23 when she was executed within the walls of Budapest prison
towards the end of the war.
Senesh was imprisoned in Budapest. From her tiny window she could
see the street she grew up on. She
was horribly beaten. Senesh was placed
in solitary confinement, beaten and questioned daily, but never
revealed what they wanted to hear.
By an incredible coincidence, Hannah Senesh discovered that her
mother was being held in the same
prison. Although they were rarely able to meet, they could see
each other from their cell windows, and
spoke daily by drawing letters in the air. Senesh never gave her
mother the details of her mission, fearing
for her mother's safety. She also discovered that one of her companions
on the mission, Yoel Palgi, was
also there. Although they could not see each other, they communicated
by Morse code, using mirrors.
As the Germans headed for defeat, they rounded up more and more
Jews for Auschwitz, including many
of Senesh's fellow prisoners. She felt this was the worst punishment
of all, that she was left behind,
helpless, unable to do anything to save them. Finally, in October
of 1944, Senesh stood trial.
Hannah Senesh was charged with treason, and pled not guilty. Speaking
in her own defense, she
renounced her Hungarian citizenship, accusing Hungary of treason
for hatred of its own people, and
demanded that the Hungarian government save the remaining Jews.
She never wavered in her ideal. The
court was shocked into silence. The judges could not agree on a
sentence, and Senesh was returned to
prison.
Senesh was never formally sentenced. Before a sentencing could
take place, the Judge Advocate took it
upon himself, perhaps out of annoyance, to have her executed. On
a gray morning, November 7, 1944,
he inquired if she wished to ask for clemency. She told him she
would never ask for clemency from
murderers. He gave her one hour to write goodbye letters. Hannah
Senesh faced the firing squad and was
shot to death at 10:00 AM. Her goodbye letters were never received.