Our namesake, Hannah Szenes

On the morning of Monday 7 November, we commemorated the life of an inspirational leader, Hannah Szenes. A meaningful yahrzeit was conducted by Szenes House students, with the aid of the Jewish Life team, as the entire High School learnt and cherished the life of a woman whose name holds a place in our hearts.

Hannah Szenes’ name is well known by students of Emanuel. Szenes House was established and dedicated to Hannah as a sign of respect for her, her efforts and selfless acts for the benefit of the entire Jewish population against Nazi Germany during World War II. It was my understanding that students had some background information of Szenes although focused on her name rather than her story. The yahrzeit was an opportunity to provide knowledge of and insight to the life of Szenes and why her name resonates with the Emanuel community years after her death. The Szenes House leaders and the Jewish Life team lit a candle in Hannah’s honour along with giving a meaningful Devar Torah about Lekh Lekha and how we can find correlations between this Torah portion and Szenes’ life and death. Here’s what we all should know about Hannah Szenes:

Hannah Szenes was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1921. She attended school there, was raised Jewish and eventually immigrated to Eretz Yisrael in 1939 at the age of 18. She initially enjoyed the Israeli life, living on Kibbutz Sdot Yam and appreciated literature and poetry.

In 1943, Szenes joined the British army after hearing of the conditions present in Europe as a result of Nazi Regime during World War II. She immediately became concerned for her family who were still living in Hungary. As a result of this, Szenes volunteered as a paratrooper for the British army. The purpose of a paratrooper was to help the Allied efforts fighting the Nazis along with providing relief and assistance to the Jewish communities in labour and extermination camps.

Szenes trained with the army in Egypt and was selected to parachute behind enemy lines. In March of 1944, Szenes parachuted into Yugoslavia where she wrote the renowned poem Blessed is the Match. On 7 June 1944, Szenes crossed the border into Hungary at the height of the deportation of Hungarian Jews. She was caught almost immediately by the Hungarian police, and tortured cruelly and repeatedly over the next several months. Despite these conditions, Szenes refused to divulge any information about her mission. At her trial in October 1944, Szenes staunchly defended her activities and she refused to request clemency. Throughout her ordeal she remained steadfast in her courage, and when she was executed by a firing squad on 7 November, she refused the blindfold, staring squarely at her executors and her fate. Hannah Szenes was only 23 years old.

Her poems, the most famous being Eli Eli, are recognised for her eminent bravery, morale and courage.

Being the House captain of Szenes House, her yahrzeit is close to my heart. Hannah Szenes was an inspirational woman who I personally feel connected to and aspire to inherit her qualities of, amongst others, bravery and courage. Being a Hungarian Jew myself, I am grateful to Szenes for her efforts of help the struggling Jewish people of Budapest. There were thousands of humans throughout World War II who fought against the authorities and died. Szenes was one of these people and her story and legacy will be carried forward by Emanuel School and especially by Szenes House.

The yahrzeit is an important event on the calendar for Emanuel and I was deeply moved by Hannah’s story, the dedication of the students to provide a meaningful ceremony, along with the respect shown by the entire school. Hannah Szenes was a woman who will be consistently remembered and appreciated at Emanuel School and I only hope that the yahrzeit was an opportunity for students to realise this.

Isabella Kidman

Inter-House Music Concert – 8 November

The annual House Music Concert was a great success for Szenes House! It was an amazing night with performances of high standards from all Houses. The night would not have been possible without Robert Feher, the Music Madrich, Bella Kidman, Charlie Wrublewski and all of the Tutors, Heads of House, and other teachers involved in making the Music Concert so special. Huge congratulations to Joshua New and Erin Nabarro (9) whose X-Factor performance was beautiful and moving. Also thank you to everyone involved in the Szenes Rock band with me: Ethan Cohen, Robert Feher, Mitchell Nixon, Joshua New, Isabella Flax and Paris Freed. Lastly, thank you so much to everyone in the small House choir, especially Paris Freed (12) and Gabriel Wolf (10), who both sang solos.

Talia Rubinstein – Music Captain of Szenes House

Year 10 Chavayah

We wish Year 10 students a memorable experience on Chavayah, which commences next week. Safe travels.

Quotation of the Week

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”

Mark Twain

Enjoy the weekend

Szenes House