Etty Hillesum was born into a secular Jewish family in the Netherlands on 15^th January 1914, and murdered in Auschwitz on 30 November 1943, at the age of 38. Her letters and diaries, published in 1986 (Dutch) and 2002 (English and 18 other languages), mark her out as one of the great spiritual luminaries of the 20^th century.  A young Jewish woman, caught up in horrors of the Holocaust, finds the Almighty in the midst of turmoil and gives her life in the service of others.

Brought up in an intellectual but dysfunctional family, she explored a series of philosophical paths and personal relationships. Her writing comes alive with her honesty and self-awareness, her delight at the discovery of new ideas, people and situations, and the roller-coaster ride through the heights and depths of her emotions. Her joy in the gift of life and her growing sense of the divine make her journey, like that of her contemporaries Anne Frank and Edith Stein, not just one of personal self-discovery, but one that speaks for the whole of the human situation.

Etty Hillesum began writing her diary in March 1941. 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. She writes of her studies in the Russian novelist Dostoyevsky, the poet Rilke, the mystics of the Christian tradition, Augustine and Eckhardt, and the Bible.

When round-ups of Jews intensified in July 1942, Etty took on administrative duties for the “Jewish Council”, voluntarily transferring to a department of “Social Welfare for People in Transit” at Westerbork transit camp. She worked there for a month, but returned in June 1943, by which time she had refused offers to go into hiding, in the 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.

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 method 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.” She writes with great tenderness, empathy, and self-realisation.

On 7 September 1943, the family were deported from Westerbork to Auschwitz. Only Jaap Hillesum did not go with them; he arrived in Westerbork after their removal, and in February 1944, he was sent to Bergen-Belsen, 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, where, according to the Red Cross, he died before 31 March 1944. Etty was murdered in Auschwitz on 30 November 1943.

Francis Hannafey writes: “Hillesum does not identify herself with any one religious tradition; her love ethic is neither strictly Jewish nor Christian. Yet the Jewish and Christian scriptures, St. Augustine, and the writings of Rainer Maria Rilke inspire her. The gospels appear to influence her moral thinking significantly. She often draws on the Gospel according to Matthew and cites its moral teachings. On a few occasions, Hillesum’s references to this gospel draw directly on the love command in Matthew 22:37-40.57 Hillesum refers to Christianity and to Christ in a number of places in the diaries. She also considers the Christian celebration of Easter on at least four occasions. However, it is not possible to situate Hillesum’s moral vision too closely within a single religious tradition. While Judaism and Christianity are considerable religious influences in the diaries and letters, Hillesum’s own highly personal and—to some—mystical religious experience may have also inspired her moral thinking.” (Hannafey, 79-80)

On the way from Westerbrook detention camp to Auschwitz, she threw out from the train a final  postcard which was discovered by Dutch farmers after her death. It reads:

“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.”

Prayer and Reflection: Right now in Israel and Gaza we have reached the 100th day after the terrible atrocities of 7th October 2023 and its terrible consequences.  The path to peace and resolution of this violent, long-term, intractable conflict is difficult to see. Etty Hillesum found peace within herself despite the Holocaust that she and so many others were caught up in. May her courage, faith and love for others inspire us to seek peace and pursue it, calling on the Almighty, who makes peace in the high places, to make peace among us and all humanity. V’imru Amen.

Publications

An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum 1941–1943. Persephone books, London, 1996, 2020.

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

Frenk, Hanan. “Etty Hillesum.” Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. 31 December 1999. Jewish Women’s Archive. (Viewed on January 9, 2022) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/hillesumetty&gt;.

Etty Hillesum as Moral-Theological Guide: From Fear to Love’s Givenness and At-Riskness William McDonough

file:///Users/richardharvey/Downloads/_book_edcoll_9789004341340_B9789004341340_007-preview.pdf

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, “Religious Lives,” Romanes Lecture, Oxford University (November 18, 2004) in idem, Faith in the Public Square (London: Bloomsbury, 2012), 313–325, especially 318–319.

Rowan Williams, Luminaries, Luminaries: Twenty lives that illuminate the Christian way, London, SPCK, 2019.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etty_Hillesum

Ethics as Transformative Love: The Moral World of Etty Hillesum, Francis T. Hannafey S.J.

https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1054&context=religiousstudies-facultypubs#:~:text=The%20writings%20of%20St.,dialogue%E2%80%94not%20unlike%20the%20Confessions.