Etty Hillesum : Essential Writings

“I know that a new and kinder day will come. I would so much like to live on, if only to express all the love I carry within me. And there is only one way of preparing the new age, by living it even now in our hearts.”

Etty Hillesum (1914-1943), a young Dutch Jewish woman, died in Auschwitz at the age of 29. Through the publication forty years later of her diaries (An Interrupted Life), the world discovered a remarkable voice that transcends the genre of Holocaust literature. In the last two years of her life, Etty expressed a deeply ecumenical mysticism, drawing on scripture, literature, and Christian sources. As the noose of repression grew tighter, she faced up to her fate with extraordinary grace and courage, determined to affirm the goodness and beauty of life, and to make of her soul a haven for God. As she surrendered herself to the Westerbork Transit Camp she expressed her desire to serve as the “thinking heart of the barracks.” This volume, drawn from her letters and diaries, lays out the themes of her distinctive and inspiring spiritual vision.