The Jungian Inspired Holocaust Writings of Etty Hillesum

To Write is to Act

 

When we are threatened with genocide, totalitarianism, dystopianism, and paranoia, there are different overlapping ways of keeping hope for the future alive: thoughtful reflection, direct political action and the creative imagination.  Barbara Morrill’s devotion to studying the life and work of Ette Hillesum resonates with us today because both Hillesum and Morrill offer us the most extraordinary example from the Holocaust of the indomitable spirit of the individual keeping hope for the future of humanity alive.

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Thomas Singer, Jungian Analyst, MD

Editor of Cultural Complexes and the Soul of America and Mind of State:  Conflicts on the Psychological Conflicts Stirring US Politics and Society

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Dr. Morrill’s beautiful recounting of the life and philosophy of Etty Hillesum is exactly the medicine needed for our time. Etty’s words and life offer profound guidance about how to stay connected with the depth of the soul’s wisdom in the midst of the most harrowing of outer circumstances. Dr. Morrill draws on Etty’s use of Jungian psychology to help us understand how to navigate our own experiences of collective trauma. As we face the crises of climate catastrophe, and the rise of authoritarianism in our own times, Etty’s life and wisdom guide us in how to stay connected with the truth that lives at the center of our beings, to become more deeply human and compassionate.

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Shoshana Fershtman, JD, PhD is a Jungian analyst and clinical psychologist, and author of The Mystical Exodus in Jungian Perspective: Transforming Trauma and the Wellsprings of Renewal. 

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In her exploration of Etty Hillesum’s writing and life, Morrill deepens our understanding, not only of Hillesum, but also of Europe under the Nazi’s and the contemporary rise of authoritarianism and xenophobia.  While a psychologist, deeply interested in Etty's inner development during an extraordinary time, Morrill also provides a sociological view, illuminating the intersection between the individual and their culture.  Morrill builds upon Hillesum’s exquisite writing to challenge us to think deeply about cultivating individual growth amid societal trauma.

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Judie Wexler, President Emerita, California Institute of Integral Studies, and president, Congregation Sherith Israel

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Both Anne Frank and Etty Hillesum felt at home in language. In the land of writing, they could grow and develop, they could freely express their inner feelings. They did not pin themselves down with their fountain pens, but committed themselves to inscribing their spirituality and sexuality and in the process transgressed boundaries and broke taboos. Barbara Morrill’s To Write is to Act emphasizes the importance of living fully, outwardly and inwardly.  It shows how writing can help to develop a free, unconventional spirit. In our times of traditionalism, outward show,  and mechanisms of exclusion To Write is to Act is a book of hope and inspiration.

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Denise de Costa, Phd, Utrecht University, “Anne Frank & Etty Hillesum. Spiritualiteit, schrijverschap, seksualiteit” , Uitgeverij Balans, Amsterdam 1996, (dissertation) translation: Anne Frank & Etty Hillesum. Inscribing spirituality and sexuality.  Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London 1998.

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Some years ago the author called to tell me, her brother, that she had followed the steps of Etty Hillesum in Amsterdam. Barbara Morrill’s account breathes with the passion out of which it was born, drawing life from deep integral thinking. It integrates Etty’s psychological pain with her spiritual fulfillment,  her untold suffering with the beauty of her artistry, the anguish of the totalitarian brutality of her times with the fragility of the polarized democracies of our times.

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Richard L. Morrill, (honorary) Chancellor and former President and Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Democratic Values, University of Richmond, VA

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When Etty Hillesum had her hands read by Julius Spier, she was deeply impressed. Finally someone had seen her, both her problems and talents, and above all she was presented a path to come into harmony with herself. A student of C.G. Jung, Spier had developed a psychologized method of palmistry. Jung supported Spier's rare talent and influenced his intriguing multifaceted archetypal approach to wholeness. Barbara Morrill recounts how Hillesum found her way in life through the radically destructive time in history she lived in. What is more, Morrill shows how Hillesum is a source of inspiration for us today, during the political chaos and misinformation of rising authoritarianism in the US and the world.

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Alexandra Nagel, Phd, Leiden University, “De psychochiroloog Julius Spier en de handleeskunde in het Interbellum” (dissertation), author of “Jung, Julius Spier, and Palmistry”, Jung Journal14(1), 2020, 65-81. 

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With erudition and exquisite relatedness, Dr. Morrill illuminates Etty Hillesum’s form of action, her visionary writings, that give voice to the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust. Offering readers a compelling contrast to Anne Frank’s iconic diary, Dr. Morrill’s work beckons readers to immerse themselves in the immediacy of Hillesum’s life as a young woman who is facing this time in history with remarkable perceptiveness, maturity, and profound insights that are depicted in her personal writings. Dr. Morrill’s book resonates deeply, stirs both heart and soul, and prompts thoughtful reflection on the parallels between Hillesum’s times and our own. Her deep affinity and connection with Etty Hillesum is affirmed by the uncanny synchronicities that manifest through Dr. Morrill’s painstaking scholarship and efforts to enliven Hillesum’s overlooked writings which have contemporary relevance for our times.

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Helen Marlo, Ph.D., Dean, School of Psychology, Notre Dame de Namur University, Jungian Analyst Member of the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco, Clinical Psychologist, and co-editor of: The Spiritual Psyche in Psychotherapy: Mysticism, Intersubjectivity, and Psychoanalysis

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 I  am astonished by Barbara Morrill’s new book's scope, power and scholarship!  -The Jungian Inspired Holocaust Writings of Etty Hillesum; To Write is to Act 

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William Torbert, PhD, Former Dean of the Boston College School of Management,  Author of Action Inquiry; The Secret of Timely and Transforming Leadership

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Morrill explores in The Jungian Inspired Holocaust Writings of Etty Hillesum: To Write is to Act in profound depth how the distinctive development of Etty's personhood in relation to her environment and the "Dark Times" in which she lived was shaped in part by Etty's involvement and deep interest, influenced by Julius Spier, in Jungian depth psychology. In this valuable book Morrill exposes the various layers behind Etty Hillesum's process of becoming who she is in the face of Nazi persecution and oppression.

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Lotte Bergen, Director of The Etty Hillesum House in Middelburg, NL Author,  Commandant of Westerbork, Alfred Konrad Gemmeker, ‎ Aspekt B.V., Uitgeverij; 1. edition (29 Nov. 2012)

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Barbara Morrill's study is a great contribution in understanding the work and life of Etty Hillesum. A must-read - especially in this time! 

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Judith Koelemeijer, biographer of Etty Hillesum, Uitgeverij, Balans, Amsterdam, 2022 

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This biography of Etty Hillesum reveals an inspiring life in response to profound inhumanity such as could happen again. In Barbara Morrill’s telling, Etty Hillesum can lead us to wisdom and vigilance. Together they prove Etty’s motto: “To write is to act.” 

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Robert McDermott, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Baruch College, C.U.N.Y, President Emeritus; California Institute of Integral Studies; Author Steiner and Kindred Spirits

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The Jungian-Inspired Holocaust Writings of Etty Hillesum is quite simply a beautiful book about a remarkable and courageous woman who used her writings in resistance to horror. Barbara Morrill recounts the inner journey of Etty Hillesum through a Jungian lens that reaches back into the past and forward into the future. With Etty’s own words to accompany us, we walk with her through the streets of Amsterdam, into Camp Westerbork rather than into hiding, and tragically on that last train ride to Auschwitz. This is a book for our times.

 

LeeAnn Pickrell, MFA, Managing Editor, Jung Journal: Culture & Psyche; poet and author of the forthcoming Gathering the Pieces of Days