Public Affairs Officer Michael Hurley Opens Film on Jewish War Heroine at Central European University

May 20, 2009

Mr. Hurley speaks at the Hungarian premiere of the documentary.

On May 20, 2009, Public Affairs Officer Michael Hurley spoke at the Hungarian premiere of the film "Blessed Is the Match," a documentary on Hannah Szenes. Produced and directed by Roberta Grossman, the film depicts the life of Hannah Szenes, a Hungarian-born "fighter and poet." Ms. Szenes joined the British Army in 1943 and parachuted into Europe. Her mission in March 1944 was to establish contact with partisan resistance fighters to aid beleaguered Jewish communities behind the lines. Szenes crossed the Hungarian border June 7, 1944 and was captured, tortured and later killed after being tried by the Nazis.

Mr. Hurley’s remarks before the film conveyed the current context of the increasing manifestations of racially-motivated intolerance and what the U.S. Embassy is doing to oppose it.