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Etty: The Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943

Etty Hillesum's letters and diaries offer a profound and intimate look into the life of a young woman during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The volume provides a detailed account of her personal journey, reflections on human nature, and her deepening spiritual beliefs amidst the horrors of the Holocaust. more

Author

Etty Hillesum
Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum was a Dutch writer and diarist, born on January 15, 1914, and died on November 30, 1943. Her works are known for their profound personal insights and philosophical reflections on human existence. more

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“We human beings cause monstrous conditions, but precisely because we cause them we soon learn to adapt ourselves to them. Only if we become such that we can no longer adapt ourselves, only if, deep inside, we rebel against every kind of evil, will we be able to put a stop to it. ... while everything within us does not yet scream out in protest, so long will we find ways of adapting ourselves, and the horrors will continue.”

IfsWayHumansKindLongDoeAbleEvilCausesHuman BeingsConditionsHorrorProtestRebelScreamMonstrousDeep InsideAdapting
Book:Etty: The Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943
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“ought we not, from time to time, open ourselves up to cosmic sadness? ... Give your sorrow all the space and shelter in yourself that is its due, for if everyone bears his grief honestly and courageously, the sorrow that now fills the world will abate. But if you do not clear a decent shelter for your sorrow, and instead reserve most of the space inside you for hatred and thoughts of revenge-from which new sorrows will be born for others-then sorrow will never cease in this world and will multiply.”

IfsWorldGivingBornSpaceGriefClearSadnessThis WorldBearsOughtSorrowHatredRevengeDuesHonestlyCeaseDecentCosmicShelterReserves
Author:Etty Hillesum
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“And I believe that I will never be able to hate any human being for his so-called 'wickedness,' that I shall only hate the evil that is within me, though hate is perhaps putting it too strongly even then. In any case, we cannot be lax enough in what we demand of others and strict enough in what we demand of ourselves.”

BelieveHumansEnoughAbleHateEvilI BelieveHuman BeingsCasesDemandStrictWickednessLax
Book:Etty: The Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943
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“All disasters stem from us. Why is there a war? Perhaps because now and then I might be inclined to snap at my neighbour. Because I and my neighbour and everyone else do not have enough love. Yet we could fight war and all its excrescences by releasing each day, the love which is shackled inside us, and giving it a chance to live.”

GivingWarEnoughMightFightingChanceDisasterEach DayNow And ThenStemNeighbourSnapsEnough Love
Book:An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943
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“I keep remembering from my early student days how I would walk at night through the streets, my hands bunched into fists in the pocket of my coat, my head hunched deep into my collar, and how I used to say, 'I want to work, I shall work'--and then I would come back home and be so exhausted by my determination that I had no strength left to do the actual work.”

WantHomeHandsRememberUsedNightLeftWalksStreetsStudentsDeterminationPocketsExhaustedCoatsFistsBack HomeCollars
Book:Etty: The Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943
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