Israeli delegation to honor Hannah Szenes with recreation of WWII jump

By Judah Ari Gross 5 July 2021, 5:15 pm

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Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.

Hannah Szenes dressed as a Hungarian soldier on Purim (Wikimedia Commons)

Some 150 Israeli soldiers will travel to central Europe later this month as part of a weeklong educational trip in honor of the 100th birthday of the Hungarian-born soldier and poet Hannah Szenes, who was captured and killed by the Nazis after she parachuted into Hungary during World War II.

The commander of the Paratroopers Brigade, Col. Yuval Gaz, tells reporters that the purpose of the program, which will include a recreation of the parachute jump by Szenes and 31 other Jewish fighters, is to “deepen the connection between the participants and the Israel Defense Forces and the State of Israel.”

The delegation will be led by the head of the IDF’s Depth Corps, Maj. Gen. Itay Virov, along with Brig. Gen. Ofer Winter, who commands the IDF’s 98th Division, which contains the Paratroopers Brigade, and a number of other senior Paratroopers officers, including Gaz.

According to Gaz, the idea for the delegation was raised 16 months ago, after last year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is meant to teach soldiers about the role of Jewish partisans during World War II, he said.