Parachuting for Hannah

IDF to follow path of Szenes’s 1944 mission to Yugoslavia in honor of her 100th birthday

One hundred years after Hannah Szenes was born, Israeli paratroopers will jump onto European soil in a unique military mission to honor Szenes and pre-state paratroopers who fought in World War II.

Called Lightning of the Heavens in honor of a line from one of Szenes’s most famous poems, “A Walk to Caesarea,” some 150 officers and troops will head to three European countries to learn about and honor Szenes, paratroopers of the pre-state forces, the heritage of the partisans and the Jews of Yugoslavia and Hungary.

The trip, July 18-22, was organized in cooperation with the Witness in Uniform program, which brings IDF soldiers and officers to Europe to commemorate and learn about the Holocaust.

The delegation will include OC Paratroopers Brigade Col. Yuval Gez, OC Military Colleges Maj.-Gen. Itai Veruv and Brig.-Gen. Ofer Winter, commander of the 98th Paratroopers Division, a.k.a. the Fire Formation. It will also have troops from commando units and the IAF.

About 100 of the participants will take part in a multinational joint jump with representatives from the militaries of Hungary (five to 10 participants), Slovenia (five to seven participants), Croatia (five participants) and England (one participant).

The mission will strengthen ties with the countries participating in the jump, Gez told reporters.

The delegation will visit Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary. On the second day of the trip, paratroopers will jump into Slovenia, close to the spot where Szenes parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe 77 years ago.

After the jump, the paratroopers will march toward where Szenes joined the partisans to fight the Nazis.