Hannah Szenes

War Hero

Birthday July 17, 1921

Birth Sign Cancer

Birthplace Hungary

DEATH DATE Nov 7, 1944 (23)

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About

World War II hero who helped the British Army rescue fellow Hungarian Jews who were en route to the Auschwitz concentration camp. She was subsequently arrested and executed.

Before Fame

She moved from her native Hungary to the British Mandate of Palestine, where she became a paratrooper in the British Women's Auxiliary Air Force.

Trivia

She was played by Maruschka Detmers in Hanna's War, a 1988 film based on her life story.

Family Life

She and her brother Gyorgy were the children of a Hungarian-Jewish playwright.

Associated With

A poet as well as a war hero, she wrote a famous poem -- "Eli, Eli" -- that was turned into a song that was later performed by Ofra Haza.