The last meeting
She suffered the most terrible forms of torture
without yielding. A missing tooth was testimony of their cruelty.
They had whipped the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet.
They had tied her up, forcing her to remain immobile for hours. They
had beaten her so violently that her body was completely covered with
ecchymoses. Her torturers wanted to know the radio code. They had
discovered the transmitter that she had hidden before being captured
and they wanted the correspondence code in order to send false messages
and direct the Allies' bombers to their anti-aircraft guns. Aware
of the importance of the code, Hannah refused to reveal it. (...)
The worst was yet to come for Hannah in the prison in Budapest. She
certainly did not long to find herself again in the city of her birth.
They threw her into a cell where, to her great sorrow, she met her
mother. At a loss of words, she embraced her tightly and could only
murmur these words: " Mother, forgive me, but I could not renounce
my obligations. "
The Germans knew what they were doing. They threatened to torture
her mother and to execute her before Hannah's very eyes if she refused
to reveal the code. But she did not yield. Only those who knew how
much she loved her mother could begin to imagine her suffering. For
my part, I was shaken by her account and could not hide my bewilderment.
How could she remain so calm and so steadfast? Where did she find
the courage to sacrifice her mother, whom she so loved, rather than
reveal a secret, upon which, it is true, the lives of many depended?
Who knows? Perhaps her determination indirectly contributed to saving
her mother? Had she yielded, the Germans would surly have executed
her, sending her mother to the gas chambers in Auschwitz.
In as much, the Germans did not admit defeat. They cast Hannah and
her mother in the same prison, wagering that their joint imprisonment,
hunger and fear of death would break them. Some friends - some prisoners
who had known the family before the war or had heard about them -
did what they could to help them. For example, they managed to arrange
that they be placed in adjacent cells so that they could see each
other. Once or twice a week, the prisoners were allowed to take a
walk in twos in the miniscule courtyard of the prison under the surveillance
of the guards who dealt severely with the slightest conversation.
In this way, I could hear the steps of the two prisoners from my cell
and I would immediately go to the window to see Hannah. The two walked
side by side, clutching hands. In general, hours of interminable waiting,
long days and long nights preceded their meetings, and when they would
meet, Mrs. Senesh probably could not refrain from asking the question
that preoccupied her:
Why?
Her daughter was content to grasp her hand tightly. Perhaps she also
whispered:
If I had to do it again, I would and you would understand.
Hannah felt that her mother had misgivings about her activities. Perhaps
she also tried to comfort her: You will be proud of me when you hear
about what I did ...
Y. Palgui
Hannah appears before a military court on October 28, 1944. She accuses
the Hungarian authorities of collaborating with the Nazis. Her mother
is released, the Red Army is advancing and she appears to be quite confident.
Furthermore, her judges had chosen to flee the country. It is then that
she is transferred to the prison where Yoel is imprisoned. On November
7th, a shot is fired. Her companion would reconstruct her last moments
based on the testimony of another prisoner:
Hannah's
execution
This prisoner was forced to clean her cell - cell 13 was the cell
of those condemned to death where she had been taken on November 7th
- when the military prosecutor, Captain Simon, arrived: "Hannah Senesh,
you have been condemned to death, he said in a monotone voice. Do
you wish to petition for a reprieve? Condemned
to death? No, I want to appeal the decision. Summon my lawyer.
You cannot appeal. You can only petition for a reprieve.
I was judged by a county court. I know my rights. I want to appeal.
You cannot do so. I repeat: Do you or do you not wish to petition
for a reprieve.
A reprieve, from you? Do you think I would collaborate with murderers
and executioners?
I would never ask for your mercy.
In that case, prepare to die. You may write farewell letters. But
hurry. You will be executed in one hour."
Hannah remained alone in the cell, seated,
immobile, staring at the wall. No one will ever know what she saw.
Perhaps her mother's face. Perhaps memories of her childhood - the
sea, the sand, different places, the people she loved.
She requested a pen and some paper and wrote two letters, one to her
mother and one to us. Only Captain Simon knows what she wrote for
they never reached their destinations. I imagine that she explained
why she had chosen her path and asked for forgiveness, confident that
she would obtain it when her mother would understand that it was her
conscience and her being that had pushed her in that direction, her
ideals and her sense of moral duty that had motivated her actions.
The letter that she wrote us - and that was probably destined to all
of us, the members of the pioneer movement - never reached us. It
disappeared with all the rest of her file. But after her death, Captain
Simon declared to a representative of Senesh:
" Hannah persisted in her insubordination until the last day. At the
moment of her death, she revealed only the worst intentions as having
motivated her acts. She wrote to her comrades: 'Continue along the
same path, do not be discouraged. Fight until the end, until the liberation
of our people and our victory.'"
The deadline had passed. At 10 o'clock, the officer reentered the
cell and softly requested that she follow him. Two soldiers escorted
her to the courtyard. A wooden box filled with sand with a stake driven
into it stood near the gray brick wall at the side of the small prison
chapel. They tied her hands behind her back and tied her to the stake.
She stared at the officer that was coming towards her with a blindfold,
shaking her head to refuse it. She then lifted her blue eyes to the
clouds - that must have veiled the sky at the moment the three shots
were fired.
Half an hour later, a car came to take the body, which was buried
in the Jewish cemetery in Budapest, in the section for martyrs alongside
countless anonymous victims of the Nazis. We do not know who buried
her there. The Jewish Burial Society had been disbanded; the Jews
were not authorized to leave their homes. Perhaps an unknown admirer
wanted to render her this final honor.
Y. Palgui
This last poem by Hannah Senesh was written in Yugoslavia:
H.
Senesh
The site of Caesarea is one of the most remarkable in the country.
Its vestiges date to various epochs. The moles go back to the time of
Herod, as do the ruins of the wall with rounded towers. From the Roman
period, there are the remains of the wall that protected the city, a
hippodrome measuring 230 meters long and 80 meters wide that could accommodate
20,000 spectators, a plaza rich in mosaics and statues. A Roman theater
regularly hosts concerts and theater. From the Byzantine period, there
remains a church paved with mosaics representing animals and birds,
visible on the exterior walls, as are the vestiges of a synagogue. From
the period of the Crusades, there remains the partially restored rampart
of Louis IX and the ruins of a church - probably the church of Saint
Paul whose construction on the site of Paul's incarceration and perhaps
on that of the temple dedicated to Augustus Caesar by Herod was interrupted
by the arrival of the Moslems. A 9 km long aqueduct that is partially
covered by sand dunes, dating from the 2nd century, conveyed water from
the Shouni sources at the foot of the Samarian Mountains to Caesarea.
It is comprised of three conduits, then two, then one. This strange,
distinctive feature is explained… in an Arab legend:
The three
conduits
The Arab king of Caesarea had a very beautiful daughter. No one
in the entire region matched her beauty. Three suitors, a Jew, a Christian
and a Moslem asked for her hand in marriage. Not knowing whom to choose,
the beautiful princess who was also known for her noble spirit hesitated.
She decided to consult her father, who replied:
" You well know, my daughter, to what extent I look after the good
of all my subjects without discriminating on the basis of race or
religion. Now, if you choose the Moslem, I will incur the resentment
of the Jews and the Christians; if you choose the Christian, I will
alienate the Jews and the Moslems; and if you choose the Jew, I will
irritate the Christians and Moslems. I suggest that you submit them
to a test: since the water in the wells of Caesarea is salty and the
water from sources of drinkable water flows at the foot of the mountains,
announce to the three suitors that you will marry the first to succeed
in bringing the water from these sources to the city. "
The
beautiful princess followed her father's advice and the three suitors
began to lay down conduits. After a certain period, the first, vanquished
by effort and fatigue, ceased his work. Hardly any time passed before
the second, fearing the triumph of his rival, withdrew from the contest
in despair. And only the third proceeded with the project until its
completion, bringing his conduit to Caesarea and winning the hand
of the beautiful princess.
The legend does not say whether the winner was Jewish, Christian or
Moslem ...
The aqueduct crosses Nahal Taninim - the Valley of the Crocodiles
- frequented only by wild beasts until the decade of the 80's in the
19th century.
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