Jewish woman named Hannah Szenes snuck behind Nazi lines and into Hungary
On June 7, 1944, a 22-year-old Jewish woman named Hannah Szenes snuck behind Nazi lines and into Hungary. She'd only just left the country, her former home, and emigrated to Palestine.
But as Szenes and other recent Γ©migrΓ©s watched in horror as Hitler marched across Europe, they became convinced that they had to return to their native countries in order to help those who were left behind — and fight back.
Szenes and hundreds of Jews living in Palestine volunteered to parachute into Nazi territory and help build the resistance. In the end, just 32 were chosen to execute this dangerous mission and Szenes was one of them.
But although she successfully parachuted into Yugoslavia, she was indeed captured soon after sneaking back into Hungary.
Szenes then endured months of torture as Hungarian police stripped her, beat her, and broke her teeth. But she never gave in, refusing to tell them anything except her name.
Finally, when they offered her a choice between begging for clemency and facing the firing squad, she chose the firing squad. And when they offered her a blindfold, she refused — so that she could stare down her executioners instead.
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