Page 85 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

A Walk to Caesarea: A Historical-Archaeological Perspective 71

H. annah Szenes (Senesh; 1921–1944) was born in Budapest and became
a member of kibbutz Sdot Yam. Her famous poem “A Walk to Caesarea”
was written in 1942 (reproduced above, p. iii), not long before she set out
to parachute into Nazi-occupied Europe. She was captured after entering
Hungary and, following interrogation and torture, she was executed on
7 November 1944. Upon her death she became a symbol of idealism,
determination, and self-sacrifice. These traits are reflected in her poems, as
for example Ascension to Caesarea (Aliyah le-Qeisarya).

Ascension to Caesarea

Hush, the voices will cease
beyond the sea of the dunes.
on the familiar nearby shore,
on the precious golden shore,
the homeland home is beckoning

With a joyful, determined step
we will go into a foreign-speaking nation
with no sound of music or voice
toward the future-past –
Caesarea.

And only with our arrival to the city in ruins,
silently we will whisper a few words:
Behold we are here, we have come back.
And silently the silence of the stones will answer:
We have waited for you two thousand years.

H. annah Szenes (Senesh),
27 October 1941
(tr. Marta Cohn)