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Etty Hillesum

Author profile

born

January 15, 1914 in Middelburg, Netherlands

died

November 30, 1943

gender

female

About this author

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Esther 'Etty' Hillesum was a young Jewish woman whose letters and diaries, kept between 1941 and 1943 describe life in Amsterdam during the German occupation. They were published posthumously in 1981, before being translated into English in 1983.

Etty spent her childhood years in Middelburg, Hilversum (1914–16), Tiel (1916–18), Winschoten (1918–24) and Deventer, from July 1924 on, where she entered the fifth form of the Graaf van Burenschool. The family lived at number 51 on the A. J. Duymaer van Twiststraat (at present time number 2). Later (in 1933) they moved to the Geert Grootestraat 9, but by then Etty was no longer living at home. After primary school, Etty attended the gymnasium (grammar school) in Deventer, where her father was deput...more Esther 'Etty' Hillesum was a young Jewish woman whose letters and diaries, kept between 1941 and 1943 describe life in Amsterdam during the German occupation. They were published posthumously in 1981, before being translated into English in 1983.

Etty spent her childhood years in Middelburg, Hilversum (1914–16), Tiel (1916–18), Winschoten (1918–24) and Deventer, from July 1924 on, where she entered the fifth form of the Graaf van Burenschool. The family lived at number 51 on the A. J. Duymaer van Twiststraat (at present time number 2). Later (in 1933) they moved to the Geert Grootestraat 9, but by then Etty was no longer living at home. After primary school, Etty attended the gymnasium (grammar school) in Deventer, where her father was deputy headmaster. Unlike her younger brother Jaap, who was an extremely gifted pupil, Etty's marks were not particularly worthy of note. At school she also studied Hebrew, and for a time attended the meetings of a Zionist young people's group in Deventer. After completing her school years, she went to Amsterdam to study law. She took lodgings with the Horowitz family, at the Ruysdaelstraat 321, where her brother Mischa had been staying since July 1931. Six months later she moved to the Apollolaan 29, in where her brother Jaap also lived from September 1933 while he was studying medicine. In November, Jaap moved to the Jan Willem Brouwerstraat 22hs; Etty followed one month later. As from September 1934, Etty's name once again appeared in the registry at Deventer.On 6 June 1935 she took her bachelor's exams in Amsterdam. At that time she was living with her brother Jaap at Keizersgracht 612c. In March 1937 she took a room in the house of the accountant Hendrik (Hans) J. Wegerif, at Gabriel Metsustraat 61, an address also officially registered as the residence of her brother Jaap from October 1936 to September 1937. Wegerif, a widower, hired Etty as his housekeeper, but also began an affair with her. It was in this house that she lived until her definitive departure for Westerbork in 1943.

Before her final departure for Westerbork, Etty gave her Amsterdam diaries to Maria Tuinzing, who had meanwhile come to live in the house on the Gabriel Metsustraat as well. Etty asked her to pass them along to the writer Klaas Smelik, with the request that they be published if she did not return. In 1946 or 1947, Maria Tuinzig turned over the exercise books and a bundle of letters to Klaas Smelik. His daughter Johanna (Jopie) Smelik then typed out sections of the diaries, but Klaas Smelik's attempts to have the diaries published in the 1950s proved fruitless. Two letters Etty had written, in December 1942 and on 24 August 1943, concerning conditions in Westerbork, did get published. They appeared in the autumn of 1943 in an illegal edition by David Koning, at the recommendation of Etty's friend Petra (Pim) Eldering. This edition, with a run of one hundred copies, was printed by B. H. Nooy of Purmerend under the title Drie brieven van den kunstschilder Johannes Baptiste van der Pluym (1843–1912) [Three Letters from the Painter Johannes Baptiste van der Pluym (1843–1912)]. The two letters were preceded by a foreword with a biography of the artist, and followed by a third letter, both written by David Koning to camouflage the true contents. The revenues from the publication were used to provide assistance to Jews in hiding. These letters have since been republished on several occasions.

Etty's father and mother either died during transport to Auschwitz or were gassed immediately upon arrival. The date of death given was 10 September 1943. According to the Red Cross, Etty died at Auschwitz on 30 November 1943. Her brother Mischa died on 31 March 1944, also at Auschwitz.(less)

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Books by Etty Hillesum

Average rating: 4.27 · 469 ratings · 79 reviews · 14 distinct works

	An Interrupted Life: The Diaries, 1941-1943; and Letters from Westerbork by Etty Hillesum, Eva Hoffman (Foreword by) 4.24 avg rating — 422 ratings — published 1981 — 23 editions	My rating:
	Etty: de nagelaten geschriften van Etty Hillesum 1941-1943 4.88 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2008	My rating:
	Lettres De Westerbork 4.38 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 1986 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Etty Hillesum: Essential Writings by Etty Hillesum, Annemarie S. Kidder (Editor) 4.67 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2009	My rating:
	Diário 1941- 1943 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	My rating:
	Het denkende hart van de barak 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1982 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Brieven uit Westerbork 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1994	My rating:
	Etty by Etty Hillesum, Arnold Pomerans (Translator), Klaas A.D. Smelik (Editor) 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2003	My rating:
	Das Denkende Herz 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1998	My rating:
	Dat onverwoestbare in mij 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2011	My rating:

More books by Etty Hillesum…

Quotes by Etty Hillesum

“Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.”
― Etty Hillesum

tags: peace , self , world

23 people liked it

“Sometimes my day is crammed full of people and talk and yet I have the feeling of living in utter peace and quiet. And the tree outside my window, in the evenings, is a greater experience than all those people put together.”
― Etty Hillesum

tags: 1942

10 people liked it

“Despite everything, life is full of beauty and meaning.”
― Etty Hillesum, Lettres De Westerbork

5 people liked it

See all Etty Hillesum's quotes »

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