Ethics as transformative love: The moral world of Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum, a Dutch Jew who died at Auschwitz at the age of twenty-nine, left behind a diary and letters written during the last two years of her l ife. In An Interrupted Life and Letters from Westerbork, Hillesum tells a d eeply moving story of religious experience, evil and suffering, spiritual g rowth, and interior and exterior moral transformation. While current schola rship on Hillesum focuses almost entirely on her personal life and religiou s journey, this essay examines the moral vision that emerges in her writing s. Hillesum's diaries and letters present an engaging vision of the moral l ife--one that points with clarity to the importance of love of God and love of neighbor. This essay proposes that a love ethic is at the center of Hil lesum's worldview and examines major influences on her religious and moral thought.