Hannah Senesh

Synopsis: SETTING: A cell in a Hungarian prison, 1943. Hannah Senesh, a strong-willed, 23 year old Jewish Hungarian poet, has been captured by the Nazis after parachuting behind enemy lines in an attempt to rescue Hungarian Jews from Hitler's final solution. Although "Hannah Senesh" takes place in the confines of her cell, Hannah's frequent retreats into her memory offer an often joyful recounting of a spirited young woman who finds love, humor and compassion as she faces challenges with a stubborn determination. SYNOPSIS Based on the life of Israel's most beloved heroine, Hannah mentally escapes harsh interrogations by the prison's warden, who wants her to reveal the code to her military radio. Through her memory, we see how a brilliant, 17 year old woman gives up the privileged, though endangered, life of the Jewish intelligentsia in pre-World War II Hungary, to become a woman "of the land" in Israel, choosing to do menial farm work as she tries to find the best way to contribute to the Jewish homeland. She fails to convince her mother to leave Hungary, where her deceased father, Bela, had been a revered writer, and her brother, George, feels obligated to finish his education before joining her. When Hannah learns of Hitler's final solution, she joins 31 other Jews who become British paratroopers, planning to return to Hungary to form a Jewish resistance movement and rescue as many Jews as possible. Among the group is Yoel, the young man who most intrigued Hannah when they first met after her arrival in Palestine. It is the memory of their love which truly sustains her in prison. Despite her anguish at the eventual imprisonment of her mother, Hannah continually professes ignorance about the code. She impacts on everyone at the prison, impressing even one of her guards with her warmth, joy, courage, intelligence and creativity. It is that guard who allows Hannah to briefly reunite with Yoel, who has been captured and brought to the same prison. Distressed by her weakened condition, Yoel tells Hannah to reveal whatever she knows, but Hannah insists on persevering. After months of incarceration, Hannah's knowledge of plans or a code is useless to the Nazis; however, she is now in a battle of wills with the Warden. Only in a final flashback do we see Hannah, herself, along with Yoel, helping to devise the code. After her trial, Hannah confronts one last visitor in her cell, whom she first regards with suspicion. However, the man is her father, Bela, who reunites with her in death, to accompany her out of prison.

Notes: Readings at ANMT.