Esther (Etty) Hillesum (b. Middelburg, Netherlands, 1914 – d. 1943, Auschwitz-Birkenau, German- occupied Poland) 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. In 1943, she was deported and murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp. Her diaries record the increasing anti-Jewish measures imposed by the occupying German army and the growing uncertainty about the fate of fellow Jews who had been deported by them. As well as forming a record of oppression, her diaries describe her spiritual development and deepening faith in God.
