Amor Fati or Posttraumatic Growth? The Case of Etty Hillesum in the Time of the Holocaust

Abstract

Almost four decades after her death in Bergen-Belsen, the young Dutch woman, Etty Hillesum’s diaries were published in 1981 and since then have received intense attention from the general public, and some reflections from philosophical, theological and psychological theorizing as well. The diaries reveal a deep struggle for personal independence against the unprecedented threats of the strengthening Nazi oppression. Influenced by Julius Spier, a charismatic psycho-chirologist, who was a therapist, a father/figure, lover and mentor for her, writing became Hillesum’s outlet, and a vehicle for her spiritual liberation and personality development. One of the most interesting and paradoxical aspect of her diaries is that she could realize a substantial improvement of her self-coherence and personal integrity through her reflections about existential themes in an actually life-threatening, liminal situation. The chapter gives an overview of Etty Hillesum’s writings in the context of her life-history and personality development; in the light of current psychological theories of posttraumatic growth, and also in the frame of the philosophical concept, the “flow of the presence” of Eric Voegelin. The analysis might contribute to the understanding of the paradoxical positive reactions which help certain sufferers of extreme stresses and serious traumas to cope with the stress and to reach personality development and post-traumatic growth. Through the case of Etty Hillesum we might also examine the methodological question whether the present-tense narratives of self-experiences might serve as sufficient resources for psychobiographies.