Abstract
Etty Hillesum, known as the adult Anne Frank, diarised her emotional and intellectual journey from 09 March 1941 to 15 September 1943, a final postcard thrown from the train en route to Auschwitz from Westerbork transit camp. Her diarising initially aided her therapeutically to analyse her personal feelings rationally. But the changing circumstances in the Netherlands, due to the Nazi occupation in addition to her own turmoil, turned her diarising into a highly personal inner conversation. She initially addressed herself. As her conversation deepened, it took on the semblance of a two-way conversation. Hillesum eventually concluded that she was conversing with God. Her life became more meaningful as she adopted a New Testament servant mentality and attitude of forgiveness towards her Nazi enemies. It was this attitude that compelled her to serve the younger women of Westerbork transit camp, but also to tell them of God’s power in forgiveness and hope for the future. This study will attempt to show Hillesum’s place within Reformed theological thinking. This is a necessary exercise, as many people do not only drift away from the church, but do not turn to it or to Christian ministers for pastoral assistance in matters of the spirit.
Highlights
Influenced by the writings of Elie Wiesel, the Christian philosopher of religion, John K
Much is made of the concept of God1 after Auschwitz
The reason for choosing to explore her seeking and engagement with deity is the remarkable manner in which this was recorded in her diary and letters (Hillesum 2016) covering the period 1941–1943. Remarkable, because her emotional and spiritual journey did not follow the traditional Jewish or Christian confessional or catechetical understanding of salvation. Rather her emotional journey developed into a personal spiritual journey which eventually concluded with an objective perception of and a relationship with God
Summary
Influenced by the writings of Elie Wiesel, the Christian philosopher of religion, John K. Bearing in mind that we are dealing with someone who was raised a-religious, in my opinion, it is possible to trace her spiritual journey along the following lines: Hillesum’s inner subjective conversation concluded with an emergent consciousness of deity She concluded that all human beings must be created in the image of the Creator, which she interpreted in a generic sense, namely that there is something of God within each person. 20.Hillesum struggles with comprehending God’s control of history, which she interpreted to include historical events (World War II mass destruction of Jews), directing humankind and individual lives She (Hillesum 2016) at once questioned God’s seeming helplessness, limitations or failure to do so adequately and, for that reason, redirected the blame to human beings who obscured God within them. Her beliefs remained intact to the very moment of departure despite the suffering and terror (Brenner 1998:24)
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