WRITER

Etty Hillesum

1914 - 1943

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Esther "Etty" Hillesum (15 January 1914 – 30 November 1943) was a Dutch Jewish author of confessional letters and diaries which describe both her religious awakening and the persecutions of Jewish people in Amsterdam during the German occupation. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Etty Hillesum has received more than 416,738 page views. Her biography is available in 20 different languages on Wikipedia. Etty Hillesum is the 903rd most popular writer (up from 943rd in 2019), the 136th most popular biography from Netherlands (down from 125th in 2019) and the 6th most popular Dutch Writer.

Etty Hillesum was a Dutch Jew who spent the last two years of her life in hiding in Nazi-occupied Holland. She wrote a diary that was published after her death, and it is now considered a classic of Holocaust literature.

Memorability Metrics

  • 420k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 62.62

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 20

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 6.89

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 1.63

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Letters from Westerbork
History
Collects the last letters written by the youth Dutch woman during her final months in the Nazi detention camp, Westerbork, where she died at age 29
1986
Het verstoorde leven
1981
Etty
1983
Etty
Westerbork (Concentration camp), Jews, Diaries
"This body of work reveals the interior life of a brilliant young Jewish woman. Born in January 1914, Etty Hillesum began her diary in 1941, nine months after Hitler invaded her home country of the Netherlands. The record she kept for the next two years contains arresting personal reflections and chronicles her social, intellectual, and - most significantly - spiritual growth. In addition to her ongoing search for God and truth, one of the most noted and instructive features of Etty's development was her recognition of, and her struggle to overcome, the disorder within her own being. It was her success in finally transcending her own sense of captivity within that allowed her to rise above cruel and fearsome circumstances without.". "Indeed, in the midst of the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust, Etty's writings reveal a woman who celebrated life and remained an undaunted example of courage, sympathy, and compassion. Letters that she wrote to friends during her internment at the Westerbork transit camp poignantly describe the day-to-day horrors that the Jewish prisoners faced. Nonetheless, Etty's courage and determination remained strong, allowing her to rise above the hate around her and express her irrepressible faith in humanity. As she wrote in her last letter, thrown from the train that took her to her death at Auschwitz, "We left the camp singing.""--BOOK JACKET.
1983
Twee brieven uit Westerbork
Jewish Personal narratives, Personal narratives, Jewish, Westerbork (Concentration camp)
Témoignage du camp de transit de Westerbork, destiné aux juifs néerlandais, où fut incarcéré l'auteur de ces lettres dont on a déjà publié le journal sous le titre "Une Vie bouleversée."
1962
Etty Hillesum. La Paix Dans L'Enfer
2013
Dat onverwoestbare in mij
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), Jews, Personal narratives
2011
Ogni Battito Del Cuore
2017
Verstoorde leven
Biography, Jews, Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
**Het verstoorde leven** is een boek met dagboekfragmenten van Etty Hillesum. In haar dagboek verwoordde ze haar persoonlijke, innerlijke ontwikkeling te midden van de turbulentie van de Tweede Wereldoorlog en de absurditeiten van de holocaust. Het boek is niet alleen een sterk persoonlijk document, maar geeft ook enig inzicht in de wijze waarop de anti-Joodse maatregelen en deportaties in die jaren op Joden zelf zijn overgekomen. (Wikipedia)
1981

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Etty Hillesum ranks 903 out of 7,302. Before her are Daniel Goleman, Roger Zelazny, Nikolai Ostrovsky, Appius Claudius Caecus, Shoko Asahara, and Sherwood Anderson. After her are Bruce Chatwin, Maurice Druon, Wole Soyinka, Stefan George, Branislav Nušić, and Abraham Abulafia.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1914, Etty Hillesum ranks 33. Before her are Raymond Davis Jr., Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, Jonas Salk, Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, Philippe Ariès, and Desmond Llewelyn. After her are Gino Bartali, William Vickrey, Gino Colaussi, Louis, Prince Napoléon, Max Perutz, and Tyrone Power. Among people deceased in 1943, Etty Hillesum ranks 28. Before her are Julius Fučík, Beatrix Potter, Gustav Vigeland, Max Reinhardt, Jean Moulin, and Leslie Howard. After her are Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal, Hans Scholl, Franz Oppenheimer, Mordechai Anielewicz, André Antoine, and Oskar Schlemmer.

Others Born in 1914

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Others Deceased in 1943

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In Netherlands

Among people born in Netherlands, Etty Hillesum ranks 136 out of 1,646. Before her are Paulus Potter (1625), Nicolaes Tulp (1593), George Hendrik Breitner (1857), Gerard David (1450), Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (1967), and Anton Mauve (1838). After her are Geert Hofstede (1928), Pim Fortuyn (1948), Pieter van der Aa (1659), Bernard Haitink (1929), Jan Swammerdam (1637), and Ary Scheffer (1795).

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Among WRITERS In Netherlands

Among writers born in Netherlands, Etty Hillesum ranks 6. Before her are Thomas Bernhard (1931), Isabelle de Charrière (1740), Multatuli (1820), Harry Mulisch (1927), and Robert van Gulik (1910). After her are Cees Nooteboom (1933), Dick Bruna (1927), Constantijn Huygens (1596), Isaac Titsingh (1745), Jacob Cats (1577), and Aagje Deken (1741).

Dutch born Writers

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