Etty Hillesum „All
Diaries and letters – 1941-1943“
Staying human even under the worst conditions
Etty Hillesum lived at the time of the German occupation in
Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She was Jewish. In 1941 during a psychtherapy she started to
to write a diary. She wanted to become a writer and
wrote herself „I want to become the chronicler of my time“. Although the
reprisals against the Jewish population became increasingly massive and she
herself was deported to a transit camp and later to an extermination camp
she stood by her insight that there are always beautiful things in life
and that life is worth cherishing. During this
terrible time she kept thinking about the time afterwards. She knew there would be an aftermath
and that it was important to deal with it.
She always looked at things in a differentiated and not one-dimensional way
and always from different perspectives. This is a point of view that we also
urgently need today.
PROJECT AIMS
The Chaja Foundation would like to help publicize and disseminate Etty Hillesum’s writings and thus promote an active engagement with them. The aim is to show that even under the worst conditions it is possible to remain human, to appreciate life and not fall prey to hatred. Because by dealing with oneself and maintaining one’s own humanity, the cycle of violence (and counter-violence) can be interrupted.
THE READING
The Chaja Foundation organized a reading of excerpts
„sämtlicher Tagebücher und Briefe“ at the Literaturhaus Frankfurt, which was presented by an
expert on her biography. For this purpose, meaningful
and thematically relevant passages have been selected, which above all
reflect aspects, views and attitudes of Etty Hillesum.
