Israeli paratroopers parachute into Slovenia to honor pre-state heroes

The IDF's Spokesperson's Unit announced on Tuesday that the parachute drop was held on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hannah Szenes, the first female pre-state parachutist. The jump was held in the Cerklje Air Base in Slovenia, and included Hungarian, Slovenian, Croatian and British paratroopers.

The event included two jumps. On Monday, eight Israeli paratroopers jumped at 12,000 ft, along with their European counterparts. Then, on Tuesday, some 100 delegation members parachuted from 1,000 ft. Included among the delegation members were OC Depth Corps Maj.-Gen. Itai Virov, OC Paratrooper Brigade Col. Yuval Gez, and Brig.-Gen. Ofer Winter, commander of the 98th Paratroopers Division, a.k.a. the Fire Formation., as well as commandos and current and reserve paratroopers. 

After landing, the paratroopers made their way through forests that were, during the war, home to partisan fighters, and then continued to the nearby town of Semič, following the path that the original paratroopers took.

They then held a ceremony, during which they received a unique military pin with a bolt of lightning on a backdrop of the traditional paratrooper's wings. The lightning symbol, which is also the inspiration for the delegation's name, is a reference to the iconic poem "A Walk to Caesarea" written by Szenes, which includes the phrase "Barak ha'Shamayim", which translates to 'lightning of the heavens'. 

The members of the delegation were divided into four teams of 27 participants, each including a commander with a rank of Lt.-Col. and above, as well as an expert guide in the Holocaust, who accompanied the troops throughout the journey. One of the guides will be Lt.-Col. (ret.) Simcha Goldin, the father of Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose remains currently are being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Goldin joined previous IDF delegations to Europe, including one in 2017, when he participated alongside his wife, Leah, and former IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Gadi Eisenkot in the March of the Living.

The mission’s goal is to bring the participants to Europe, so they can feel the history and understand the importance of what Szenes and her fellow paratroopers did during the Holocaust.

In addition, Col. Gez said that the mission will strengthen ties with the other countries in the delegation. He added: “The main goal of this journey is to strengthen the sense of mission and the memory of heroism,” concluding that “we understand how historic this mission is.”

A number of other events commemorating Szenes took place both in Israel and Europe.

Paratroopers, past and present, held a commemoration ceremony at the pre-state paratroopers' burial plot in the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery. In addition, a memorial service for Hannah Szenes and an educational seminar were held at the Hannah Szenes museum in Sdot Yam kibbutz near Caesarea, which included President Isaac Herzog.

On Wednesday a monument commemorating the pre-state paratroopers will be erected in the Croatian city Čakovec, where Szenes was arrested and imprisoned.      

Szenes was one of 250 Jewish men and women from Mandatory Palestine who volunteered for operations run by British organizations MI9 and the Special Operations Executive (SOE) beginning in 1943, of which 37 were selected to carry out the mission.

Their goal was to organize resistance to the Germans, aid in the rescue of Allied personnel and carry out assignments set by the Jewish Agency of Palestine recruits.

On March 14, 1944, Szenes and two fellow colleagues were parachuted into former Yugoslavia and were arrested by Hungarian police when they tried to cross into Hungary. She refused to reveal anything except her name, despite being tortured in prison, and in October 1944 she was tried for treason. She was then executed by a firing squad on November 7, 1944.

Szenes was also a poet and playwright, and kept a detailed personal diary. Her unique personality and bravery made her an Israeli hero.