Anne Frank And Etty Hillesum

Studies of Nazi persecution and destruction of Jews have to date largely been based on the accounts of men. And yet gender difference in Western society is so profound that women and men seem to have divergent experiences, speak different languages, and see and hear in dissimilar ways. Denise de Costa's book explores the significance of sex and gender differences in the construction of history and society-specifically, the Nazi genocide of Jews in World War II-by focusing on the writing of two Jewish women, Anne Frank and Etty Hillesum. De Costa argues that although both of these writers have received much attention, little has been done to understand how the significant difference occasioned by both gender and Jewishness helps to define cultural or personal identity in relation to the Holocaust. De Costa uses a variety of psychoanalytic and feminist theories to approach the writing of Frank and Hillesum. Critiquing as well as employing the concepts of Julia Kristeva, Hélène Cixous, Luce Irigaray, and Simone de Beauvoir among others, she presents a detailed and rich discussion of each writer. De Costa approaches Anne Frank largely from a psychoanalytical perspective that emphasizes the function of writing itself in the development of self-identity. For Etty Hillesum, she is more concerned with how writing establishes a philosophy, and a faith, that can entertain and is indeed based in doubleness and paradox. Her assessment of these two writers makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the Holocaust as a cultural and historical phenomenon, of the role of writing in the production and expression of gendered identity, and of the complex relation between women, writing, and culture.

In the midst of the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust, Etty's writings reveal a young Jewish woman who celebrated life and remained an undaunted example of courage, sympathy, and compassion. Through this splendid translation by Arnold J. Pomerans, commissioned by the Etty Hillesum Foundation, readers everywhere will resonate with the spirit of this amazing young woman.

A concise, readable volume of the articles and memoirs most relevant for understanding the life, death, and legacy of Anne Frank.

A collection of the diaries and letters of Etty Hillesum (1914-43) who lived in Amsterdam that were composed in the shadow of the Holocaust, but their interest lies in the light-filled mind that pervades them and in the internal journey they chart.

A collection of essays documents the life of Anne Frank, including her childhood, time in hiding, and the time she spent in a Nazi concentration camp before her death and the release of the diary that became world famous.

Having volunteered as a social worker in Westerbork, Etty Hillesum searched her soul for love in the reality of terror. In each case, autobiographical writing becomes an act of defiance that asserts humanity in a dehumanized/dehumanizing world.

The text considers two questions: what happened to the Jews of Holland during the war, and how has Dutch literature come to terms with the enormity of the event? The authors trace the destruction of Dutch Jewry and analyse the relation between history and the literature of the Holocaust.