Etty Hillesum
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Esther "Etty" Hillesum (15 January 1914 – 30 November 1943) was a Dutch Jewish author of confessional letters and diaries which describe both her religious awakening and the persecutions of Jewish people in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
during the
German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...
. In 1943, she was deported and murdered in the
Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...
.


Life

Esther Hillesum was born on 15 January 1914 in her family home in the town of
Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...
, the oldest of the three children – she had two brothers: Jacob, or "Jaap" (1916–1945), and Michael, or "Mischa" (1920–1944) – of Levie Hillesum (1880–1943) and Riva Bernstein (1881–1943). After completing school in 1932, she moved to Amsterdam to study
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
and Slavic languages. There, she met Hendrik (Hans) J. Wegerif, with whom she had a relationship that she describes in her diaries. Etty Hillesum began writing her diary in March 1941, possibly at the suggestion of her analyst Julius Spier, whom she had been consulting for a month. Although his patient, Etty also became his secretary, friend, and, eventually, his lover. His influence on her spiritual development is apparent in her diaries; as well as teaching her how to deal with her depressive and egocentric episodes, he introduced her to the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
and
St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
, and helped her develop a deeper understanding of the work of
Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as a significant ...
and
Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...
. Her diaries record the increasing anti-Jewish measures imposed by the occupying German army, and the growing uncertainty about the fate of fellow Jews who had been deported by them. As well as forming a record of oppression, her diaries describe her spiritual development and deepening faith in God. When round-ups of Jews intensified in July 1942, Etty took on administrative duties for the "
Jewish Council A ''Judenrat'' (, ) was an administrative body, established in any zone of German-occupied Europe during World War II, purporting to represent its Jewish community in dealings with the Nazi authorities. The Germans required Jews to form ''J ...
", voluntarily transferring to a department of "Social Welfare for People in Transit" at
Westerbork transit camp Camp Westerbork (, , Drents: ''Börker Kamp; Kamp Westerbörk''), also known as Westerbork transit camp, was a Nazi transit camp in the province of Drenthe in the Northeastern Netherlands, during World War II. It was located in the municipality ...
. She worked there for a month, but returned in June 1943, by which time she had refused offers to go into hiding, much to the consternation of her non-Jewish friends. This refusal was due to her belief that her duty was to support others scheduled to be transported from Westerbork to the concentration camps in German-occupied Poland and Germany. On 5 July 1943, her personnel status was suddenly revoked, and she became a camp internee, along with her father, mother, and brother Mischa. On 7 September 1943, the family was deported from Westerbork to
Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...
. Only Jaap Hillesum did not go with them; he arrived in
Westerbork Camp Westerbork (, , Drents: ''Börker Kamp; Kamp Westerbörk''), also known as Westerbork transit camp, was a Nazi transit camp in the province of Drenthe in the Northeastern Netherlands, during World War II. It was located in the municipality ...
after their removal, and in February 1944, he was sent to
Bergen-Belsen Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen, Lower Saxony, Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, ...
, dying shortly after its liberation in April 1945. Etty Hillesum's parents are recorded as having died on 10 September 1943, suggesting they died in transit or were murdered immediately upon their arrival. Mischa Hillesum remained in Auschwitz until October 1943, when he was moved to the
Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...
, where, according to the
Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
, he died before 31 March 1944. Etty was murdered in Auschwitz on 30 November 1943.


Personal growth and philosophy

Etty Hillesum's youth was chaotic and turbulent, possibly resulting from her emotionally unstable family, to which she herself referred as a "madhouse". Her diaries reflect the inner turmoil that she experiences during her young adulthood, as well as the healing and growth during the years before her murder. Russian authors and Christian mystics likely contributed to Hillesum's understanding of spirituality. She did not strive for ecstasy, but longed to meet the depth of her own interior and life itself. Her spirituality was not confined to her intellectual understanding of a greater power and is reflected in her diaries. In the concentration camp of Westerbork, she had unusual experiences of spiritual awakenings and insight: "Those two months behind barbed wire have been the two richest and most intense months of my life, in which my highest values were so deeply confirmed. I have learnt to love Westerbork". Hillesum addressed God repeatedly in her diaries, regarding him not as a saviour, but as a power one must nurture inside of oneself: "Alas, there doesn't seem to be much You Yourself can do about our circumstances, about our lives. Neither do I hold You responsible. You cannot help us, but we must help You and defend Your dwelling place inside us to the last." Still in Amsterdam, Hillesum developed an ideology of showing others the way to their own interior in a time of great adversity – the Nazi terror. Her time at Westerbork – as reflected in her diaries – portrays the redemption of her spirit, while her body was captured and eventually murdered. She neither denies the horror of the Nazi terror, nor identifies with her victimhood. In the midst of extreme conditions, Hillesum develops an awareness of the indestructible beauty of this world. She writes during her time at Westerbork: "The sky is full of birds, the purple lupins stand up so regally and peacefully, two little old women have sat down for a chat, the sun is shining on my face – and right before our eyes, mass murder... The whole thing is simply beyond comprehension." Hillesum continuously writes from a place of great tenderness, empathy, and realisation. Hillesum suffered great inner turmoil during her young adulthood, but increasingly transforms into a woman of maturity and wisdom. She wrote, "Everywhere things are both very good and very bad at the same time. The two are in balance, everywhere and always. I never have the feeling that I have got to make the best of things; everything is fine just as it is. Every situation, however miserable, is complete in itself and contains the good as well as the bad." In touch with the equilibrium of a bigger picture she is aware of, she continuously draws from this place to find meaning in her current reality. Hillesum saw it as her duty to assist her people in preserving their human dignity in the face of Nazi attempts to not only murder Jews but also take away their humanity. On 7 September 1943, less than three months before her murder, she threw a postcard with her final words out of a train. The postcard read, "Opening the Bible at random I find this: 'The Lord is my high tower'. I am sitting on my rucksack in the middle of a full freight car. Father, Mother, and Mischa are a few cars away. In the end, the departure came without warning... We left the camp singing... Thank you for all your kindness and care."


The diaries

Before she left for Westerbork, Etty Hillesum gave her diaries to Maria Tuinzing, with the instruction they be passed to Klaas Smelik for publication, should she not survive. Attempts to have them published proved fruitless until 1979, when Smelik's son, the director of the Etty Hillesum Research Centre, approached publisher J. G. Gaarlandt. An abridged edition of her diaries appeared in 1981 under the title (), followed by a collection of her letters from Westerbork. A complete edition of her letters and diaries was published in Dutch in 1986 and translated into English in 2002. Her diaries were translated into 18 languages. Her letters were sent to friends and Hillesum's final postcard was thrown from the train in
Westerbork Camp Westerbork (, , Drents: ''Börker Kamp; Kamp Westerbörk''), also known as Westerbork transit camp, was a Nazi transit camp in the province of Drenthe in the Northeastern Netherlands, during World War II. It was located in the municipality ...
, where it was discovered by Dutch farmers after her death.


In popular culture

David Brooks sees Hillesum's ability to hold both intellectual skepticism yet humanitarian vulnerability in ''How to Stay Sane in Brutalizing Times''.
Richard Layard Peter Richard Grenville Layard, Baron Layard FBA (born 15 March 1934) is a British labour economist, co-director of the Community Wellbeing programme at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, and co-editor of t ...
has spoken with great appreciation of Hillesum's view that one must preserve one's inner self, or core. Rowan Rheingans has drawn on Hillesum's writing, particularly on the coexistence of beauty and horror, and on allowing room for sorrow, in her album "The lines we draw together". Palestinian writer Dina Awwad-Srour and Israeli Rabbi Emma Sham-Ba Ayalon are friends and peace activists who together create
Etty Hillesum cards
which contain quotes from Hillesum's writings in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. Both women were inspired by Hillesum's writings and have used the cards as the basis for a ritual commemoration on Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel/Palestine. The Italian music project Camera Sambô released 'Remembering Etty Hillesum' in 2024.


Publications

* ''An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum 1941–1943'' * ''Etty Hillesum: An Interrupted Life the Diaries, 1941–1943 and Letters from Westerbork'' * ''Etty Hillesum: Essential Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters)'' * ''Anne Frank and Etty Hillesum: Inscribing Spirituality and Sexuality'' * ''Etty Hillesum: Letters from Westerbork''


Research centre and museum

On 13 June 2006, the Etty Hillesum Research Centre (EHOC) was officially opened as part of Ghent University with a celebration at Sint-Pietersplein 5. It studies and promotes the research of Hillesum's World War II letters and diaries. The Centre is directed by Klaas A.D. Smelik, who edited and published the Complete edition of the Letters and Diaries, and teaches Hebrew and Judaism at Ghent University. Staff member Meins G. S. Coetsier is the author of '' Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence: A Voegelinian Analysis''. A monument to Etty Hillesum is located in
Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...
on the riverfront,Lat/long (from Google Earth) 52°15'14.97"N 6° 8'59.05"E and the local secondary schools are named after her. There is also a modest museum dedicated to her memory, the Etty Hillesum Centre, housed at Roggestraat 3, Deventer, the location of a former synagogue and Jewish school.


See also

*
List of Holocaust diarists Diarists who wrote diaries concerning the Holocaust (1941-1945). English translations of some of these diaries are commercially available, for example Anne Frank's, Eva Heyman's, Janusz Korczak's. * Janina Altman - a Jewish diarist in the Lw ...
*
List of posthumous publications of Holocaust victims This is a list of Holocaust victims whose writings were published posthumously. Published in English or translated into English *Hinde Bergner (1870–1942): ''On Long Winter Nights: Memoirs of a Jewish Family in a Galician Township, 1870–1 ...
*
Helga Deen Helga Deen (6 April 1925 – 16 July 1943) was a Jewish diarist whose diary was discovered in 2004, which describes her stay in a Dutch prison camp, '' Kamp Vught'', where she was brought during World War II at the age of 18. Biography Deen wa ...
– wrote a diary in 's-Hertogenbosch concentration camp (Camp Vught) *
List of Dutch Jews This page is a list of notable Dutch Jews, arranged by field of activity. Sciences Economists Historians Jurists Mathematicians Musicians Actors Visual arts Politicians Business Sportspeople Writers Other * Solo ...
*
List of diarists This is an international list of diarists who have Wikipedia pages and whose journals have been published. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z Diaries of disputed authenticity *The ...


References


Primary sources

*''The original handwritten letters and diaries of Etty Hillesum.'' Amsterdam: Jewish Historical Museum, 1941–43. *''Twee brieven uit Westerbork van Etty''. Introduction by David Koning. The Hague: Bert Bakker/Daamen N.V., 1962. *''Het Verstoorde leven: Dagboek van Etty Hillesum 1941–1943''. Edited with an introduction by
Jan Geurt Gaarlandt Jan Geurt Gaarlandt (born October 9, 1946) is a Dutch journalist, poet, translator, editor and novelist. He writes novels under the pseudonym Otto de Kat. Biography Gaarlandt was born in Rotterdam on October 9, 1946, to the son of Hans Gaarlan ...
. Haarlem: De Haan, 1981. * ''Het Verstoorde leven'' is translated in at least fourteen languages: England: ''Etty – A Diary'' (1983) Germany: ''Das denkende Herz der Baracke'' (1983) Denmark: ''Et kraenket liv'' (1983) Norway: ''Det tenkende hjerte'' (1983) Sweden: ''Det förstörda livet'' (1983) Finland: ''Päiväkirja, 1941–1943'' (1984) America: ''An Interrupted Life'' (1984) Brasil: ''Una Vida Interrompida'' (1984) Italy: ''Diario 1941–1943'' (1985) Argentina: ''Una Vida Interrompida'' (1985) Israel: ''Chajjiem Kerotiem; Jomana sjel'' (1985) Japan (1985) and Hungary. France: ''Une Vie Bouleversée.'' Journal 1941–1943, translation par Philippe Noble. Editions du Sieul. Paris, 1985. * ''Het denkende hart van de barak. Brieven van Etty Hillesum''. Edited with an introduction by Jan Geurt Gaarlandt. Haarlem: De Haan,1982. * ''In duizend zoete armen: Nieuwe dagboekaantekeningen van Etty Hillesum''. Edited with an introduction by Jan Geurt Gaarlandt. Haarlem: De Haan, 1984. * ''Etty: A Diary 1941–1943''. Introduction by Jan Geurt Gaarlandt, translation by Arnold J. Pomerans. London: Johathan Cape, 1983. * ''An Interrupted Life: The Diaries and Letters of Etty Hillesum 1941–1943''. Introduction by Jan Geurt Gaarlandt, translation by Arnold J. Pomerans. New York: Pantheon Books,1984. * ''Letters from Westerbork. Introduction by Jan Geurt Gaarlandt'', translation by Arnold J. Pomerans. New York: Pantheon Books,1986. * ''Letters from Westerbork''. Introduction by Jan Geurt Gaarlandt, translation by Arnold J. Pomerans. London: Johathan Cape,1987. * ''An Interrupted Life and Letters from Westerbork''. New York: Henry Holt, 1996. * ''An Interrupted Life: The Diaries and Letters of Etty Hillesum''. Preface by Eva Hoffman, London: Persephone Books,1999. *''Etty: The Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum 1941–1943.''Edited with an introduction by Klaas A. D. Smelik, translation by Arnold J. Pomerans. Ottawa, Ontario: Novalis Saint Paul University – William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002. () *''Etty: De nagelaten geschriften van Etty Hillesum 1941–1943''. Edited, introduced and annotated by Klaas A. D. Smelik. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Balans, 1986.() * "Etty Hillesum. Un Itineraire Spirituel, Amsterdam 1941-Auscwitz 1943" Paul Lebau, Collections Spiritualites.


Secondary sources

* Bériault, Yves o.p., ''Etty Hillesum témoin de Dieu dans l'abîme du mal'', Montreal, Médiaspaul, 2010, 192 pp. * Brandt, Ria van den & Smelik, Klaas A.D. ''Etty Hillesum in facetten''. Nijmegen: Uitgeverij Damon, 2003. * Brandt, Ria van den & Smelik, Klaas A.D. ''Etty Hillesum Studies: Etty Hillesum in context''. Assen: Gorcum, 2007. () * Brenner, Rachel Feldhay
Writing as Resistance: Four Women Confronting the Holocaust: Edith Stein, Simone Weil, Anne Frank, Etty Hillesum''
Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997.
Coetsier, Meins G. S.

Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence: A Voegelinian Analysis
'. Columbia Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2008. ()
Coetsier, Meins G. S.God? ... Licht in het duister: Twee denkers in barre tijden: de Duitse filosoof Eric Voegelin en de Nederlands-Joodse schrijfster Etty Hillesum
in Etty Hillesum Studies: Etty Hillesum in context,'' red. Ria van den Brandt en Klaas A.D. Smelik, Assen: Gorcum, 2008. () * Costa, Denise de
''Anne Frank and Etty Hillesum: Inscribing spirituality and sexuality''
Translation by Mischa F. C. Hoyinck and Robert E. Chesal. New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London: Rutgers University Press, 1998. * * Du Parc Locmaria, Marie-Hélène. ''Tant souffrir et tant aimer selon Etty Hillesum'', Éditions Salvator, Paris, 2011, 256 pp. * Frank, Evelyne. ''Avec Etty Hillesum : Dans la quête du bonheur, un chemin inattendu. Une lecture d'une vie bouleversée et des lettres de Westerbork,'' Genève: Labor et Fides, 2002. () * Gaarland, J. Geurt, ed. ''Men zou een pleister op vele wonden willen zijn: Reacties op de dagboeken en brieven van Etty Hillesum''. Amsterdam: Balans, 1989. * * Nocita, Maria Gabriella, ''Feeling life: Etty Hillesum ''becomes'' word'', in ''Spirituality in the Writings of Etty Hillesum, Proceedings of the Etty Hillesum Conference at Ghent University, November 2008'', edited by Klaas A.D. Smelik, Ria van den Brandt, and Meins G.S. Coetsier, Brill, Leiden–Boston, 2010. * Oord, Gerrit van, ed. ''L’esperienza dell’Altro: Studi su Etty Hillesum''. Rome: Sant’Oreste, 1990. * Regenhardt, Jan Willem. ''Mischa's Spel en de ondergang van de familie Hillesum''. Amsterdam: Balans, 2012. () * * Woodhouse, Patrick. ''Etty Hillesum: A life transformed''. London, Continuum, 2009, 166 pp.


External links


The Etty Hillesum Research Centre

Etty Hillesum Congress 2008
at
Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

Fundación Etty Hillesum
* Frenk, Hana
Etty Hillesum
''Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women''.
Jewish Women's Archive The Jewish Women's Archive (JWA) is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to document "Jewish women's stories, elevate their voices, and inspire them to be agents of change." JWA was founded by Gail Twersky Reimer in 1995 in Brook ...
31 December 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hillesum, Etty 1914 births 1943 deaths 20th-century Dutch diarists Dutch Jews who died in the Holocaust Jewish Dutch writers Dutch people of Russian-Jewish descent Dutch civilians killed in World War II People from Deventer People from Middelburg, Zeeland Dutch people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp Dutch non-fiction literature Women religious writers Women mystics Women diarists Holocaust diarists Jewish non-fiction writers 20th-century Dutch women writers Westerbork transit camp survivors Amsterdam in World War II