Born in Budapest, Hannah Szenes became a Zionist and immigrated to Palestine in 1939. In 1943 Jewish agency officials asked Szenes to join a clandestine military operation. She became a member of the Palmah and participated in a course for paratroopers.
In March 1944, she was dropped into Yugoslavia to aid anti-Nazi forces. Szenes was captured in June after entering Hungary, and sent to a prison in Budapest, where she was tortured. Since Szenes would not talk, Hungarian authorities arrested her mother. Both women remained silent. Given the chance to beg for a pardon in November 1944, Szenes instead chose death by firing squad.