Witnesses and victims of massacre: the literary testimony of Samuel Usque and Etty Hillesum

In Spirituality in the writings of Etty Hillesum ed

Klaas Smelik R van den Brandt and M

Coetsier Brill LeidenBoston 2010 pp

335-350

WITNESSES AND VICTIMS OF MASSACRE

THE LITERARY TESTIMONY OF SAMUEL USQUE

AND ETTY HILLESUM

Patricia Couto

(Centro de Estudos Comparatistas Universidade de Lisboa)

When I was revising the Portuguese translation of Etty

Hillesumrsquos letters1 I heard the echo of another writer I had

readmdasha little knownPortuguese Jewish writer and chronicler

Samuel Usque the author of Consolaccedilam aacutes Tribulaccediloens de Israel

(lsquoConsolation for the Tribulations of Israelrsquo ) The book was

edited in 1553 in Ferrara Italy and written at the time of the

collapse of the high Jewish civilization in the Iberian

Peninsula In this work Usque attempts to console his people

during a chaotic period and to explain the reason for their

tribulations It is an account of Jewish history and an apology

for Judaism

We know little about the authorrsquos life but the few facts we have

reflect the Portuguese Jewish problem The Jewish question in

Portugal cannot be separated from that of the rest of the

Iberian Peninsula In order to contextualize Usque and his work

let us first have a look at the history of Iberian Jewry

The Tribulations of Iberian Jewry

In 1492 the Spanish Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand

signed an edict banishing all Jews from their kingdoms While

the expulsion captured the imagination of posterity it was only

the beginning of an overwhelming catastrophe At the time of the

edict some Spanish Jews decided to convert to Christianity but

many crossed over into neighbouring Portugal where upon

payment they were allowed to remain for eight months At the

end of this term the number of

___________________

I am grateful to Marijke Boucherie for her criticism And I like to thank Professor Klaas Smelik for inviting me to participate in the Etty Hillesum Congress

1 Etty Hillesum Cartas 1941ndash1943 trs Ana Leonor Duarte amp Patricia Couto (Lisbon Assirio amp Alvim 2009)

336 patricia couto

ships leaving Portugal was deliberately limited and few Jews

were able to leave the country Those who could not leave were

accused of having violated the entry agreement and if they then

refused to accept baptism were declared slaves In the same

year children of Jews who refused baptism were taken from their

parents and sent to the island of Satildeo Tomeacute in the Gulf of

Guinea on the western coast of Africa In 1495 King Manuel came

to the throne Initially conditions improved and the enslaved

Jews were set free In 1496 however the Portuguese king

decided to marry the eldest daughter of the Spanish monarchs

The condition required by the Spanish Crown was that all

heretics be expelled from Portugalmdashlsquohereticsrsquo being anyone not

Catholic including the Castilian conversos King Manuel was aware

that the elimination of an active and enterprising minority such

as the Jews represented an economic and cultural impoverishment

of the kingdom There had been cooperation between Christians

and Jews in the light of a growing conviction that the discovery

of the sea route to India was near2 Thus King Manuel played a

double game in 1497 he forbade the Jews to leave the country

and ordered a forced conversion This conversion was singularly

brutal The contemporary historian Maria Joseacute Ferro Tavares

claims that neither Jewish nor Portuguese chroniclers clearly

captured the proceedings as if ldquothe shock and chaos of the

event wiped out the specific memories of time and placerdquo3 In

any case after 1497 all Jews had suddenly become conversos From

then on rabbinical academies were forbidden as well as

possession of books in Hebrew except medical books The forced

conversion did not prevent the converted Jews or New Christians

mdashwho had to adopt Portuguese identitiesmdashfrom carrying the stigma

of being false Christians Always considered a group apart they

were forbidden to leave the country without a royal permit4

They were accused of crypto-Judaism by the Old Christians who

were suspicious of them and who called them by the derogatory

name of marranos lsquopigsrsquo The frequent plague epidemics and other

disasters were perceived by the Old Christians as a punishment

for accepting them into Portuguese society In April

___________________

2 In fact Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India in 1498

3 Maria Joseacute P Ferro Tavares ldquoExpulsion or Integration The Portuguese Jewish Problemrdquo in Crisis and Creativity in the Sephardic World 1391ndash1648 ed Benjamin RGampel (New York Columbia University Press 1997) 95ndash103 esp 100

4 Antoacutenio J Saraiva The Marrano Factory The Portuguese Inquisition and Its New Christians 1536ndash1765 trs HP Salomon amp ISD Sassoon (Leiden amp Boston Brill 2001) 13ndash14

witnesses and victims of massacre 337

1506 two to four thousand conversos were murdered during a

massacre that took place in Lisbon5 Yet by the end of King

Manuelrsquos reign in 1521 New Christians had attained the highest

social political and economic prominence and virtually

monopolized medicine trade and government administration6 But

circumstances changed during in the reign of King John III

(1521ndash1557) In 1531 the Inquisition was established in

Portugal no less zealous and even more ferocious than its

Spanish prototype Thus the year 1531 marks the beginning of a

new Diaspora among the conversos

Samuel Usque

One of these conversos who was forced to flee was Samuel Usque

His work echoes and foreshadows the Dutch mystic Etty Hillesum

During his formative yearsmdashin the first decades of the sixteenth

centurymdash Usque had been a direct or indirect witness of the

massacre and persecutions and as a converso he was well aware

that his life was always at risk This explains why we do not

know Usquersquos baptismal name The conversos who decided to flee

Portugal usually changed their identity again One of the

reasons for adopting a new name was to protect family members

who had remained in Portugal In one of the few autobiographical

asides Usque tells us his ancestors belonged to the lsquoDiaspora

of Castilersquo that had fled to Portugal in 14927 He himself was

born in Portugal probably shortly after the forced conversion

in 1497 He lived as a New Christian in Portugal at least until

1531 the

year the Inquisition was established He managed to flee his

country spent some years in Antwerp as a merchant8 before

settling in Ferrara where he openly returned to his Jewish

faith There is a Hebrew text

___________________

5 Saraiva The Marrano Factory 20 Samuel Usque Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel tr Martin A Cohen (Philadelphia The Jewish Publication Society of America 19655725) Dialogue III ch 29

6 Martin Cohen ldquoIntroductionrdquo in Usque Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel 3ndash34 esp 6

7 Usque Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel Prologue Samuel Usque Consolaccedilam aacutes Tribulaccediloens de Israel vol IndashIII ed and introd Joaquim Mendes dos Remeacutedios (Coimbra Franccedila Amado 1906ndash1908) Proacutelogo desterro de Castela

8 Aron di Leone Leoni The Hebrew Portuguese Nations in Antwerp and London at the Time of Charles V and Henry VIII New Documents and Interpretations ( Jersey City Ktav Publishing House 2005) 94

338 patricia couto

that raises the possibility that he was also in Safed a centre

for cabbalistic studies in northern Galilee9

The culture and erudition reflected in the Consolaccedilam reveal that

Usque had received a broad education in Portugal He had widely

read the classics and must have cultivated a particular interest

in Portuguese literature The extent of his Jewish knowledge is

more problematic Because rabbinical academies were forbidden

after 1497 as well as the possession of Hebrew books there is

the ironic possibility that Usque went to University to pursue

the only career open to a converso who sought a humanistic

education and the study of the Bible and of Hebrew namely

priesthood10

In the middle of the sixteenth century the name lsquoUsquersquo appears

as the surname of three great men of the Sephardic circle of

Ferrara The other two men are Abraatildeo Usque his editor and

Salomatildeo Usque (or Salusque Lusitano) the Portuguese playwright

and translator of Petrarca The fact that they have the same

name does not necessarily mean that they were relatives

The Duality and Contradictions of the Conversos

The Consolaccedilam is Usquersquos only work known to us and is addressed

to ldquothe Gentlemen of the Diaspora of Portugalrdquo11 the Portuguese

conversos who persecuted in their country were forced to flee

The name converso (lsquoconvertrsquo ) may be misleading because soon the

status of converso became an inherited status The laws of racial

purity prevented any assimilation of New Christians and the

Inquisition forever haunted them Their experience led to

numerous difficulties of adjustment and identity Through their

forced conversion in Portugal they had become cut off from

their Hebraic traditions dogmas and language Although some of

the converts may have reconciled themselves to their new

religion and others may even have accepted it out of conviction

there are sufficient indications that the majority retained

their Jewish loyalties beneath a Christian faccedilade Of course

age-old communal bonds

___________________

9 Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi ldquoA Jewish Classic in the Portuguese Languagerdquo in Samuel Usque Consolaccedilatildeo agraves Tribulaccedilotildees de Israel Ediccedilatildeo de Ferrara 1553 ed Joseacute V de Pina Martins (Lisbon Fundaccedilatildeo Calouste Gulbenkian 1989) 19ndash113 esp 55ndash57

10 Cohen ldquoIntroductionrdquo 13

11 Usque Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel (1965ndash5725) Prologue idem Consolaccedilam aacutes Tribulaccediloens de Israel Proacutelogo os Senhores do Desterro de Portugal


could not be easily dissolved by a forced baptism Conflicting

trends toward the perpetuation of a clandestine Jewish tradition

coexisted with impulses toward genuine assimilation They were

victims of persecution and many despaired and hesitated in

returning to their Jewish faith They had been educated as

Christians but while in Portugal they belonged to a community

whose daily life and deepest values were not actually part of

their experience After having led a double life of religious

dissimulation fluctuating between the basic tenets of Judaism

and Catholicism many came to doubt While in exile some

returned to the open practice of Judaism others continued

outwardly to live as Christians and then there were those who

vacillated between faiths or became religious sceptics12 Yet

it is this existential dilemma that was the source of converso

creativity as they could not accommodate to traditional

cultural or ethnic structures13

Of course conversos could not ignore the claims of Christian

preachers and apologists who said that God had abandoned the

Jews when they rejected Jesus as Messiah These Christian claims

that the messianic promises had already been fulfilled became

more frequent in the sixteenth century when writers began to

turn to the vernacular instead of Latin The Consolaccedilam is the

only known refutation that was written in Portuguese No other

New Christian dared to expose himself in the defence of

Judaism14

As Usque was a converso his work reflects the duality of his

condition He wrote a passionately Jewish work in Portuguese

the language he was ldquobreastfed withrdquo as he himself explains15

It is a chronicle of Jewish history in the form of a pastoral

dialogue a literary form at its zenith at that time in

Portuguese literature and the delight of the cultured classes

The allegorical characters describe concrete historical events

some of which Usque probably witnessed While the title

proclaims its intent to console the entire Jewish people in the

prologue Usque addresses himself to his fellow men ldquoto describe

the record of our Diasporardquo16

___________________

12 Yirmiyahu Yovel Espinosa e Outros Hereges trs M Ramos amp ME Costa (Lisbon Imprensa Nacional amp Casa da Moeda 1993) 32 The most famous religious sceptic is Spinoza The converso plurality is reflected in his first name Baruch Bento or Benedictus

13 Yovel Espinosa e Outros Hereges 55


15 Usque Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel (1965ndash5725) Prologue idem Consolaccedilam aacutes Tribulaccediloens de Israel Proacutelogo na liacutengua que mamei

16 Usque Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel (1965ndash5725) Prologue idem Consolaccedilam aacutes Tribulaccediloens de Israel Proacutelogo representando a memoacuteria deste nosso desterro

340 patricia couto

Consolaccedilam aacutes Tribulaccediloens de Israel

Usque opted for the pastoral genre then far more alluring to

readers than mere exhortation or preaching He dramatizes his

views by expressing them through three dialogues divided into

several short chapters17 The dialogues are between three

shepherds and give an account of the history of the Jewish

people a history of suffering expulsion and persecutions The

first dialogue ends with the return from Babylonian captivity

the second corresponds to the period of the Second Temple and

the third reconstructs the events of pogroms and persecutions

leading up to the authorrsquos own turbulent times Each chapter

ends with quotations from the Bible or other sources through

which Usque wants to prove that just as the prophetsrsquo promises

of doom were realized so will their predictions of the final

salvation come true The book finishes with a long theological

conclusion

In the prologue the first shepherd Icabo anagram of Jacob

who represents Israel describes all the trials he has witnessed

and has been victim of since the end of the biblical Golden Age

Icabo also represents the perplexed sceptical converso who wants

to know the reason why God punishes him with so much pain Numeo

and Zicareo the prophets Nahum and Zechariah explain that

these tribulations are inflicted by a loving but stern God who

chastises His people for their transgressions Zicareo

represents memory of the past His name can be associated to the

Hebrew root 104863410486341048634 lsquorememberrsquo while Numeo from 104863410486341048634 represents

lsquoconsolationrsquo

Usquersquos notion of sacred history reflects the mainstream of

Jewish tradition18 He was not able to free himself from a

deeply rooted biblical conception of history During the Middle

Ages Jewish historical consciousness was sustained and

transmitted through Jewish liturgy and rituals But Usquersquos

innovation lies in the fact that he proposes to review the whole

of Jewish history including the Middle Ages up until his own

time in an attempt to engage in critical historiography19 In

doing so he acknowledged the importance of non-biblical

events20

___________________

17 Only the first thirty-seven chapters of the third dialogue are numbered

18 Yerushalmi ldquoA Jewish Classic in the Portuguese Languagerdquo 62

19 Ibidem 47

20 Ibidem 64


Reception and Other Editions

Before I go on with my analysis I would like to comment on the

reception and translations of Samuel Usquersquos book Despite

frequent references to Usquersquos work and its inclusion in

standard anthologies of Portuguese literature21 I had some

difficulty in accessing the Portuguese text Of the first

edition of 1553 most copies were destroyed by the Inquisition

(see plate 16)22 At the end of the sixteenth century a second

edition was printed either in Amsterdam or in Dordrecht Of the

latter a dozen copies are known We do not know if the Consolaccedilam

reached any conversos living in Portugal The book appears in the

Portuguese Index of forbidden books at the beginning of the

seventeenth century Over the years the book fulfilled its

task Its historical information was absorbed and by the late

seventeenth century an extensive literature in defence of

Judaism had been created and the expectation of an imminent

Redemption had lost its force23 Not one public library in

Portugal possesses a copy of the old editions

There are only two modern Portuguese editions of the book both

by renowned scholars The first is by Mendes dos Remeacutedios

published in 1906 based on the two sixteenth century editions

and the second is a facsimile of the 1553 edition by Pina

Martins published in 198924 These two editions are both

completely sold out and unavailable even in second-hand

bookshops My faculty library only owns a copy of the 1906ndash1908

edition and even that copy was difficult to find as there was

some confusion about its reference number We can easily

conclude from this that the book has hardly been demanded by

readers Although the edition by Mendes dos Remeacutedios is easier

to read Usquersquos language has not been modernized and the reader

of today needs to make an effort in order to access the text I

was surprised to find a little book at the Portuguese National

Library edited in 1997 by the Lisbon Town Hall containing an

annotated adaptation to modern Portuguese of the lsquoDedicationrsquo

and part of the lsquoThird Dialoguersquo made

___________________

21 Richard A Preto-Rodas ldquoSamuel Usquersquos Consolaccedilatildeo agraves Tribulaccedilotildees de Israel as Pastoral Literature Engageacuteerdquo Hispania vol 73 (1990) 1 72ndash76 esp 72

22 Samuel Usque Consolaccedilam aacutes Tribulaccediloens de Israel (Ferrara Abraatildeo Aben Usque 1553)

23 Yerushalmi ldquoA Jewish Classic in the Portuguese Languagerdquo 106ndash107

24 For the edition by Remedios see note 7 for that by Joseacute V de Pina Martinssee note 9

342 patricia couto

by Joseacute Saraiva Saraiva explicitly states that it was his aim

to make the text accessible to the modern reader25

Fortunately there are some translations of the Consolaccedilam In

1949 an abridged Yiddish translation by Eliyahu Lipinir was

published in Buenos Aires and in 1964 Gershon Gelbartrsquos

translation of the lsquoThird Dialoguersquo into English was published

in New York26 One year later Martin Cohen published an

unabridged translation with abundant comments and an

introduction by him This edition is still easily available on

Internet bookstores27

The ambiguity of Usquersquos converso condition is also reflected in

the few studies dealing with Samuel Usque Luacutecia Liba Mucznik

noticed in 1993 that the few articles written on the writer

since 1888 can be roughly divided into two groups one composed

of Jewish researchers who admire his religious zeal the

martyrological character of his work its historiographical

value in short its content The other group is composed mostly

of Portuguese scholars who favour his language his eloquence

and the literary structure in short its form The Consolaccedilam is

often considered biased and inexact by them The work is claimed

by two literatures Portuguese and Jewish28 In my opinion the

facsimile edition of 1989 by Pina Martins with its panoramic

introduction by Yosef Yerushalmi is a first effort to cross

boundaries

The awkward feeling I have is that the Jewish question in

Portugal is still wrapped in evasiveness However in recent

years there has been more interest in the history of Iberian

Jewry The Alberto Benveniste Chair for Sephardic Studies at the

University of Lisbon for instance has been in place for more

than ten years In 2006 a memorial was held in the centre of

Lisbon for the victims of the massacre of 1506 and two years

later a monument was unveiled

___________________

25 Samuel Usque Consolaccedilatildeo agraves Tribulaccedilotildees de Israel Dedicatoacuteria e diaacutelogo III Capiacutetulos 21 a 31 (Tribulaccedilotildees de Espanha e de Portugal) adapt Joseacute Saraiva (Lisbon Cacircmara Municipal Pelouro da Cultura 1997)

26 Samuel Usque Bay di taykhn fun Portugal Shemursquoel Uski zayn tkufe un zayn ldquoTrayst tsu di Laydn fun Yisroelrdquo tr Elias Lipiner (Buenos Aires Yidisher Visnshaftlekher Institut 1949) Samuel Usque A Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel Third Dialogue tr Gershon I Gelbart (New York Bloch Publishing Co 1964) The manuscript of the translation dated from 1936

27 For the translation by Cohen see note 5

28 Luacutecia Liba Mucznik As contradiccedilotildees da identidade Uma leitura da Consolaccedilatildeo agraves tribulaccedilotildees de Israel de Samuel Usque (diss Faculdade de Letras Universidade de Lisboa 1993)5


Usque and Hillesum

The final thirteen historical chapters in the Consolaccedilam which

deal with the events that occurred during Usquersquos lifetime are

especially interesting The writerrsquos description becomes more

vivid as he recounts the events he either witnessed personally

or of which he possessed first hand testimony According to

Yerushalmi the trauma of the Iberian catastrophe forced Jews

into a direct confrontation with history29 Four hundred years

later we verify a similar reaction to the Shoah These

catastrophic events generated an enormous amount of Jewish

historiography Usque as well as Hillesum were eyewitnesses and

victims They felt compelled to write the Chronicles of Jewish

history an updated version of the biblical book of Chronicles

Usquersquos chronicles included the tribulations suffered during the

Middle Ages up until his own time and two letters of Hillesum

chronicled the tribulations at Camp Westerbork Confronted with

the problem that traditional literary forms could not render the

experience both had to create an adequate framework for their

testimonymdasha framework that would be true to the historical facts

and to the transcendental dimension that upheld them Usque who

survived his ordeal had the opportunity to organize his ideas

He introduced an allegorical character who narrates in the first

person all the tribulations that Israel had suffered during

thousands of years The combination of historiography narrated

in the first person and the fictional framework in the form of

an eclogue is unique

Four hundred years later Hillesum feels the same imperative

ldquoOne ought to write a chronicle of Westerborkrdquo30 as she says in

her letter to two sisters in The Hague at the end of December

1942 Or in her letter of 24 August 1943 ldquoBut still I must try

to convey something of it to you One always has the feeling

here of being the ears and eyes of a piece of Jewish historyrdquo31

Usque and Hillesum are confronted with incidents and personal

histories which they must describe in order to give reality to a

calamity that otherwise would remain abstract or unproven to

make it somehow graspable In their descriptions the eyes are

the basis of authority

___________________


30 ET 581 Etty 618 Men zou de Kroniek moeten schrijven van Westerbork

31 ET 644 Etty 687 Toch moet ik proberen iets voor jullie neer te schrijven men voelt zich steeds oren en ogen van een stuk joodse geschiedenis

344 patricia couto

The critic James Young reminds us that Scripture itself

operates as a lsquoliterature of testimonyrsquo as it invokes the

witness people bore of Godrsquos greatness as the basis of

authority In the light of this divine precedent the great

majority of scribes who locate themselves within the Jewish

literary tradition have adopted lsquotestimonyrsquo as their personal

task32 Icabo who is also a personification of Usque

obsessively repeats at the beginning of the description of each

tribulation the word vi (lsquoI sawrsquo ) Surprisingly in the chapters

that deal with the events that took place during Usquersquos

lifetime the word vi (lsquoI sawrsquo ) is not mentioned even once it

has become superfluous His contemporary readers the men of the

Diaspora are too familiar with the trials he describes for

Usque to feel the need to prove them The ordeals are so recent

that they are still fresh in everyonersquos mind The moving account

is more important than the historical facts it enables the

readers to take hold of and share the profound reality of their

relativesrsquo suffering33 More important than the specific facts

are the interpretation of these facts Authenticity is

essential exactness is secondary

Hillesum was aware that delivering evidence of events is vital

Writing becomes a reason to postpone her certain deportation to

Auschwitz But there is also the awareness that language cannot

represent reality In the midst of chaos and disruption it is

impossible to construct a coherent picture of the events as they

occur Even so Hillesum manages to write and send her letters

By bits and pieces or ldquodoor elkaarrdquo (her favourite expression)

she describes scenes and personal dramas while she roams around

in a place of which she matter-of-factly states ldquoSo now I am

in hellrdquo34 The unimaginable reality induces a dreamlike state

in which she has visions Though what she observes is clear she

is uncertain about what she sees as the images are not new

They belong to the collective history of Godrsquos chosen people ldquoI

walk past scenes that loom up before my eyes in crystal-clear

detail and at the same time seem like blurred age-old

visionsrdquo35 She repeats several times the same verb Usque used

but now in the present tense

___________________

32 James E Young ldquoInterpreting Literary Testimony A Preface to Rereading Holocaust Diaries and Memoirs Author(s)rdquo New Literary History 18 (1987) 2 403ndash423 esp 408

33 Joseacute V de Martins Consolaccedilatildeo agraves tribulaccedilotildees de Israel de Samuel Usque Alguns dos seus aspectos messiacircnicos e profeacuteticos Uma obra-prima da liacutengua e das letras portuguesas (Lisbon Fundaccedilatildeo Calouste Gulbenkian 1989) 215

34 ET 646 Etty 689 Zo nu ben ik dus in de hel

35 ET 650 Etty 693 Ik ga door tafrelen die voor mijn ogen opstaan in velekleine kristalheldere details en die tegelijkertijd zijn als vervagende eeuwenoude visioenen


I see a dying old man being carried away reciting the Shema

to himself

[ ] I see an old man being carried away on a stretcher to

the train

saying Sheymess over himself I see a father ready to

depart blessing

his wife and child and being himself blessed in turn by an

old rabbi with

a snow-white beard and the profile of a fiery prophet I

see ah36

The effect is hallucinatory Indeed the visions that float by

are old they reverberate Usquersquos So does her observation ldquoWe

are being hunted to death all through Europe rdquo37 that

echoes the one uttered in the Consolaccedilam ldquoEurope which

swallowed me with its noxious mouth now retches merdquo38 For

Usque Europe is also a place that has become hell ldquoO Europe

my hell on earthrdquo39

Like Usque Hillesum proposed to write the history of her

people40 and like him she constantly wavers between a critical

and a biblical concept of history While in the letter of

December 1942 she starts off describing the history of Camp

Westerbork by mentioning its chronology facts and other data

eight months later her testimony is transfigured into a re-

enactment of timeless ancient happenings that she calls ldquoage-old

visionsrdquo Contemporary hardship acquired meaning insofar as it

could be incorporated within biblical categories of events The

choice of the Dutch word lsquokroniekrsquo (lsquochroniclersquo ) instead of

lsquogeschiedenisrsquo (lsquohistoryrsquo ) is revealing The idea that the

ordeal she and her people suffer is part of a prophesized

history is reinforced when in her letter of 3 July 1943 she

compares the landscape surrounding the camp with the desert

ldquoJews in a desert we know that sort of landscape

from beforerdquo41 or when at the sound of wailing babies that are

___________________

36 ET 650 Etty 693 Ik zie een doodzieke oude man wegdragen sjeimes zeggende over zich zelf [ ] Ik zie een oude man wegdragen op een baar naar de trein sjeimes zeggende over zichzelve Ik zie een vader die voor het vertrek zrsquon vrouw en kind zegent en die zichzelf laat zegenen door een oude rabbijn met een sneeuwwitte baard

en een vurig profetenprofiel Ik zie ach

37 ET 650 Etty 693 Wij worden doodgejaagd dwars door Europa heen

38 Usque Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel Dialogue III Final Lament idem Consolaccedilam aacutes Tribulaccediloens de Israel Diaacutelogo III Uacuteltimo Lamento Europa com sua danosa boca me tragou e agora me vai tornando arrevesar

39 Usque Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel Dialogue I Pastoral Dialogue idem Consolaccedilam aacutes Tribulaccediloens de Israel Diaacutelogo I Diaacutelogo Pastoral Pois Europa Europa meu Inferno na terra

40 Cf Piet Schrijvers ldquoEtty Hillesum in joodse contextenrdquo in Etty Hillesum in facetten Etty Hillesum Studies 1 eds Ria van den Brandt amp Klaas AD Smelik (Budel Damon 2003) 37ndash55 esp 45ndash47

41 ET 616 Etty 656 De Joden in de woestijn we kennen dit landschap nog van vroeger Cf Schrijvers ldquoEtty Hillesum in joodse contextenrdquo 48 See alsoher choice of words when she characterizes Camp Westerbork in her letter of December 1942 ldquoit is a camp for a people in transitrdquo ET 583 [Etty 621 ishet een kamp voor een volk

346 patricia couto

being prepared to go on transport she mentions the name lsquoHerodrsquo

in a reference to the mass infanticide by King Herod42 The

reason for this change must be found in her own situation by

this time her parents and brother Mischa were imprisoned in

Camp Westerbork and Hillesum herself had lost her benefits

having become an official inmate when the Jewish Council in the

camp was abolished on 5 July 1943 She was well aware that all

of them could be deported to Poland at any moment

The Task of the Chronicler

In Hillesumrsquos diaries we observe how she prepares herself for

the terrible reality that is unfolding itself before her eyes

On 29 June 1942 she reveals her awareness of the impending

annihilation of the Jews

But I am also aware that there may come a time when I shanrsquot

know

where they [her parents] are when they might be deported to

perish

miserably in some unknown place I know this is perfectly

possible The

latest news is that all Jews will be transported out of

Holland through

Drenthe Province and then on to Poland And the English radio

has

reported that 700000 Jews perished last year alone in

Germany and the

occupied territories And even if we stay alive we shall

carry the wounds

with us throughout our lives [ ] I have already died a

thousand deaths

in a thousand concentration camps I know about everything

and am

no longer appalled by the latest reports In one way or

another I know

it all43

___________________

op doortocht] The Dutch word lsquodoortochtrsquo has different meanings It can be translated as lsquopassing throughrsquo lsquotraveling throughrsquo or as lsquopassagersquo Thus it is often associated with the notion of exile a fundamental element in Jewish history and consciousness and also with the passage of the Red Sea by Moses and his people In the same letter she refers to the deportation of Jews fromLimburg as an ldquoexodusrdquo in a reference to the exodus from Egypt [Etty 622 uittocht]

42 ET 647 Etty 690 Herodus

43 ET 455ndash456 Etty 480ndash481 Maar ik weet dat er een tijd komen kan dat ikniet weet waar ze [haar ouders] zijn dat ze gedeporteerd zijn god weet waarheen en dat ze ergens ellendig omkomen zoals er nu al zovelen ellendig omkomen Ik weet dat dat kan komen Het laatste bericht is dat alle Joden uit Holland weggetransporteerd zullen worden via Drenthe naar Polen En de Engelse zender zei dat er sinds verleden jaar April 700000 Joden zijn omgekomen in Duitsland en de bezette gebieden En agravels wij blijven leven dan zijn dat even zo vele wonden die wij ons hele leven met ons zullen moeten dragen [ ] Ik ben al in duizend concentratiekampen duizend doden gestorven ik weet het allemaacuteaacutel en ben ook niet meer verontrust over nieuwe berichten Op de eacuteeacuten of andere manier weacuteeacutet ik het alles al


For her the impending annihilation is not a personal question

but has to do with ldquohistorical consciencerdquo44 ldquoWhat matters is

that we are all marked menrdquo45 Because she is a Jew46 she has

to go through this ordeal till the very end Nevertheless it

must be done in a way that gives meaning to life ldquohow I die

will show me who I really amrdquo47mdashas she repeatedly states in her

diary in different phrasing48 She has no doubt that this fate

was imposed upon her by God who will lead her although there

are moments of weakness and despair that she experiences as

being unfaithful to Him49 What is remarkable is hermdash repeatedmdash

statement that God cannot be blamed for this situation but

mankind must be called to account ldquoGod is not accountable to

us but we are to Him [ ] God is not accountable to us for

the senseless harm we cause one another We are accountable to

Himrdquo50 Less than two weeks later she writes ldquoAlas there

doesnrsquot seem to be much You Yourself can do about our

circumstances They simply are part of our life Neither do I

hold You responsible Later You may call us to accountrdquo51

Almost a year later on 26 June 1943 in Camp Westerbork she

insists ldquoLife is good after all itrsquos not Godrsquos fault that

things go awry sometimes the cause lies in us And thatrsquos what

stays with

___________________

44 ET 492 [translation modified] Etty 520 historisch besef

45 ET 464 Etty 488 dagravet er ten ondergegaan wordt daarom gaat het See alsoET 487 the main thing is that so many thousands have to go [Etty 515 hoofdzaak is toch dagravet er zoveel duizenden gaan moeten]

46 The first time she explicitly refers to her own feelings of Jewishness and opposite conflicts is on 14 March 1941 ldquoI thought that they simply reflecteda clash between my primitive instinct as a Jew threatened with destruction andmy acquired rationalist and socialist belief rdquo ET 19 [Etty 19ndash20 Ik meende [ ] dat er dan een strijd werd geleverd tussen mijn oer-instincten van Jood bedreigd met ondergang en mijn aangeleerde rationele socialistische ideeeumln]

47 ET 487 Etty 515 dan zal de wijze waarop ik sterf doorslaggevend zijn om te weten wie ik ben

48 See for example ET 425 460 483 Etty 447 485 510

49 ET 493 I was unfaithful to You God but not entirely [Etty 522 Ik wasje even ontrouw God maar toch niet helemaal]

50 ET 455ndash456 Etty 480ndash481 God is ons geen verantwoording schuldig maar wij aan hem [ ] God is ons ook geen verantwoording schuldig voor de zinneloosheden die wijzelf aanrichten wij zijn verantwoording schuldig

51 ET 488 [translation slightly modified] Etty 517 Ja mijn God aan de omstandigheden schijn jij niet al te veel te kunnen doen ze horen nu eenmaal ook bij dit leven Ik roep je er ook niet voor ter verantwoording jij mag daar later ons voor ter verantwoording roepen

348 patricia couto

me even now even when Irsquom about to be packed off to Poland

with my whole familyrdquo52

From her writings we gather that she believes that the present

situation is part of the special relationship between God and

the people of Israel The election by God entailed

responsibility as well as risk A year before the ldquoage-old

visionsrdquo that she described in her letter of 24 August 1943 her

notes make clear that she recognizes the pattern of Jewish

suffering to be recurrent in history whether it is caused by

pogroms wars or the Inquisition53 On 4 July 1942 she writes

ldquoI am not alone in my tiredness or sickness or fears but at one

with millions of others from many centuries and it is all part

of liferdquo54 and three months later ldquoEverything seemed so

familiar as if I knew it all and had gone through it all

beforerdquo55 Like in a play only the scenery and action of the

external circumstances change ldquoThe externals are simply so many

propsrdquo56

At first giving sense to her life meant helping and comforting

others therefore she decides to go to Camp Westerbork as a

member of the Jewish Council Gradually she discovers that God

assigned her a sacred task when He gave her the talent to

write57 She repeatedly mentions that her mission is to give

testimony of what is happening58mdash she is very clear about her

task in her annotations on 7 July 1942

I am ready for everything for anywhere on this earth

wherever God

may send me and I am ready to bear witness in any situation

and unto

death that life is beautiful and meaningful and that it is

not Godrsquos fault

that things are as they are at present but our own59

___________________

52 ET 608 Etty 648 het leven is toch goed aan God zal het niet liggen dat het zo scheef gaat soms maar het ligt aan onszelf En hier blijf ik bij ook nu ook wanneer ik samen met de hele familie naar Polen wordt doorgestuurd

53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510

54 ET 466 Etty 491 Ik ben niet alleen moe of ziek of treurig of angstig maar ik ben het samen met millioenen anderen uit vele eeuwen en het hoort bij het leven

55 ET 545 Etty 578 Alles kwam me zo bekend voor alsof ik dat al wist en al eens eerder had meegemaakt

56 ET 463 Etty 488 Een wisselend deacutecor en handeling van de uiterlijke omstandigheden

57 ET 536ndash537 Etty 568ndash569


59 ET 480ndash481 Etty 508 ik ben bereid tot alles tot iedere plek op deze aarde waar God me zenden zal en ik ben bereid tot in iedere situatie en tot in de dood te getuigen dat dit leven schoon en zinrijk is en dat het niet aanGod ligt dat het is als het nu is maar aan ons


The same idea is repeated three weeks later

At this moment I know more certainly than ever that I have

a task in

this life a small Aufgabe specially for me And I shall have

to live through

everything [ ] I shall become the chronicler of our

tribulations I shall

forge them into a new language [ ] until I find the words

that bear

witness where witness needs to be borne60

On 30 September 1942 once again she affirms ldquoBut if I have one

real duty in life in these times at this stage of my life

then it is to write to record to retainrdquo61

However writing the chronicle of Westerbork is not a question

of merely reporting like a journalist Although writing down

what she witnesses in Camp Westerbork is her moral duty she

warns ldquoI donrsquot want to become a chronicler of horrorsrdquo62 In

her letter of December

1942 she explains that ldquoit would take a great poet Little

journalistic pieces wonrsquot dordquo63

From her annotation on 7 July 1942 cited above it had already

become clear that it was her task to be Godrsquos poet On 27 July

1942 this idea is reiterated ldquoAnd yet there must be someone to

live through it all and bear witness to the fact that God lived

even in these times And why should I not be that witnessmdashrdquo64

Like Usque Hillesum considers her task of chronicler of Jewish

suffering as sacred Both were aware that in times of crisis and

persecution many people tend to feel abandoned by God and then

forsake

___________________

60 ET 510 [translation slightly modified] Etty 540 Ik weet op dit ogenblikze kerder dan ooit dat ik een taak in dit leven heb een kleine ldquoAufgaberdquo die special voor mij is [ ] Ik zal de latere kroniekschrijfster worden van onze lotgevallen Ik zal me in mijzelf een nieuwe taal tezamensmeden [ ] tot de woorden tot me zullen komen die zullen getuigen van datgene waarvoor getuigd zal moeten wordenmdash

61 ET 537 Etty 568 Maar als ik eacuteeacuten echte plicht heb in het leven in deze tijd in dit stadium van mijn leven dan is het schrijven noteren vasthouden

62 ET 545 Etty 578 Ik wil niet de kroniekschrijfster van gruwelen worden

63 ET 581 Etty 618 men zou een groot dichter moeten zijn met journalistieke verhaaltjes komen we er niet meer

64 ET 506 Etty 536 Er zal toch iemand over moeten blijven om later te kunnen getuigen dat God ook in deze tijd nog geleefd heeft En waarom zou ik niet de getuige zijnmdashSee also ET 515 Why did You not make me a poet oh God But perhaps You did and so I shall wait patiently until the words have grown inside me the words that proclaim how good and beautiful it is to live in Your world oh God despite everything we human beings do to one another [Etty 545 Waarom heb je me niet tot een dichter gemaakt mijn God Je hebt me wel tot een dichter gemaakt en ik zal geduldig wachten tot de woorden in me gegroeid zijn die kunnen getuigen van alles waarvan ik meen dat ik moet getuigen mijn God dat het goed en mooi is in jouw wereld te leven ondanks alles wat wij mensen elkaar aandoen]

350 patricia couto

Him It is the chroniclerrsquos duty to remind his or her fellow

creatures that the memory of past tribulations gives meaning to

the suffering of the present Only thus can salvation be

obtained

The memory of past tribulations calls for consolation The title

of Usquersquos work is very clear The shepherd Numeo is introduced

to console Israel and to make sense out of the suffering

Hillesum also consoles and makes sense Her biblical conception

of history ensures her of the Jewish predicament and its

inherent redemption She knows ldquoAnd yet I am one of Your

chosen oh Godrdquo65 and decides to remain with her people when she

could have hidden herself66 She goes to Camp Westerbork to

console others and to bear witness of the suffering but most of

all she goes ldquowherever God may sendrdquo her to bear witness of Him

More important than her own physical survival was Godrsquos

survival Several times she mentions that she has to ldquohelp

Godrdquo67 or ldquotry to save a little piece of Godrdquo68 and care that

ldquoGod is in safe hands with us despite everythingrdquo69 For if God

does not survive if people will lose faith in Him the ldquokinder

dayrdquo or ldquonew erardquo70 will never come While Usquersquos aim was to

comfort and assure his fellow creatures that God would fulfill

his promise of redemption if they would not abandon their faith

Hillesumrsquos task was to comfort those who suffered and to save

God in order to save the whole of humanity

True peace will come only when every individual finds peace

within himself

when we have all vanquished and transformed our hatred for

our

fellow human beings of whatever racemdasheven into love one day

although

perhaps that is asking too much It is however the only

solution71

___________________

65 ET 496 Etty 525 Toch ben ik een uitverkorene van je mijn God

66 Schrijvers ldquoEtty Hillesum in joodse contextenrdquo 48ndash49 Klaas AD Smelik ldquoDe keuze van Etty Hillesum om niet onder te duikenrdquo in Etty Hillesum in context Etty Hillesum Studies 2 eds Ria van den Brandt amp Klaas AD Smelik (Assen Van Gorcum 2007) 59ndash73

67 ET 484 Etty 512 God [ ] helpen

68 ET 506 Etty 536 proberen een klein stukje van God te redden

69 ET 657 Etty 701 dat ondanks alles toch God bij ons in veilige handen is

70 ET 497 [translation modified] Etty 526 nieuwe tijdperk

71 ET 435 Etty 458 En een vrede kan alleen een echte vrede worden later wanneer eerst ieder individu in zigravechzegravelf vrede sticht en haat tegen medemensen van wat voor ras of volk ook uitroeit en overwint en verandert iniets dat geen haat meer is misschien op den duur wel liefde of is dat mis schien wat veel geeumlist Toch is het de enige oplossing

The Tribulations of Iberian Jewry

In 1492 the Spanish Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand

signed an edict banishing all Jews from their kingdoms While

the expulsion captured the imagination of posterity it was only

the beginning of an overwhelming catastrophe At the time of the

edict some Spanish Jews decided to convert to Christianity but

many crossed over into neighbouring Portugal where upon

payment they were allowed to remain for eight months At the

end of this term the number of

___________________

I am grateful to Marijke Boucherie for her criticism And I like to thank Professor Klaas Smelik for inviting me to participate in the Etty Hillesum Congress

1 Etty Hillesum Cartas 1941ndash1943 trs Ana Leonor Duarte amp Patricia Couto (Lisbon Assirio amp Alvim 2009)

336 patricia couto

ships leaving Portugal was deliberately limited and few Jews

were able to leave the country Those who could not leave were

accused of having violated the entry agreement and if they then

refused to accept baptism were declared slaves In the same

year children of Jews who refused baptism were taken from their

parents and sent to the island of Satildeo Tomeacute in the Gulf of

Guinea on the western coast of Africa In 1495 King Manuel came

to the throne Initially conditions improved and the enslaved

Jews were set free In 1496 however the Portuguese king

decided to marry the eldest daughter of the Spanish monarchs

The condition required by the Spanish Crown was that all

heretics be expelled from Portugalmdashlsquohereticsrsquo being anyone not

Catholic including the Castilian conversos King Manuel was aware
























___________________















Samuel Usque















1531 the





___________________





338 patricia couto












priesthood10























___________________





























Judaism14












___________________






340 patricia couto
















conclusion





















events20

___________________



19 Ibidem 47

20 Ibidem 64





































___________________





342 patricia couto
























boundaries









___________________






Usque and Hillesum





































___________________




344 patricia couto






































___________________







to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________































___________________















Samuel Usque















1531 the





___________________





338 patricia couto












priesthood10























___________________





























Judaism14












___________________






340 patricia couto
















conclusion





















events20

___________________



19 Ibidem 47

20 Ibidem 64





































___________________





342 patricia couto
























boundaries









___________________






Usque and Hillesum





































___________________




344 patricia couto






































___________________







to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________



















Samuel Usque















1531 the





___________________





338 patricia couto












priesthood10























___________________





























Judaism14












___________________






340 patricia couto
















conclusion





















events20

___________________



19 Ibidem 47

20 Ibidem 64





































___________________





342 patricia couto
























boundaries









___________________






Usque and Hillesum





































___________________




344 patricia couto






































___________________







to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________












___________________





338 patricia couto












priesthood10























___________________





























Judaism14












___________________






340 patricia couto
















conclusion





















events20

___________________



19 Ibidem 47

20 Ibidem 64





































___________________





342 patricia couto
























boundaries









___________________






Usque and Hillesum





































___________________




344 patricia couto






































___________________







to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________




























___________________





























Judaism14












___________________






340 patricia couto
















conclusion





















events20

___________________



19 Ibidem 47

20 Ibidem 64





































___________________





342 patricia couto
























boundaries









___________________






Usque and Hillesum





































___________________




344 patricia couto






































___________________







to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________
































Judaism14












___________________






340 patricia couto
















conclusion





















events20

___________________



19 Ibidem 47

20 Ibidem 64





































___________________





342 patricia couto
























boundaries









___________________






Usque and Hillesum





































___________________




344 patricia couto






































___________________







to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________














___________________






340 patricia couto
















conclusion





















events20

___________________



19 Ibidem 47

20 Ibidem 64





































___________________





342 patricia couto
























boundaries









___________________






Usque and Hillesum





































___________________




344 patricia couto






































___________________







to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________











conclusion





















events20

___________________



19 Ibidem 47

20 Ibidem 64





































___________________





342 patricia couto
























boundaries









___________________






Usque and Hillesum





































___________________




344 patricia couto






































___________________







to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________












































___________________





342 patricia couto
























boundaries









___________________






Usque and Hillesum





































___________________




344 patricia couto






































___________________







to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________



















boundaries









___________________






Usque and Hillesum





































___________________




344 patricia couto






































___________________







to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________









Usque and Hillesum





































___________________




344 patricia couto






































___________________







to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________

















___________________




344 patricia couto






































___________________







to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________
































___________________







to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________











to himself


the train


depart blessing


old rabbi with


see ah36
























___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________
















___________________








346 patricia couto















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________


















know


perish


possible The


Holland through


has


Germany and the


carry the wounds


thousand deaths


and am


another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________









another I know

it all43

___________________


























stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________


















stays with

___________________









348 patricia couto

















propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________
























propsrdquo56









wherever God


and unto


not Godrsquos fault


___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________









___________________


53 See ET 460 483 Etty 485 510










a task in


to live through




that bear




















forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________


























forsake

___________________






350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________









350 patricia couto




obtained






















within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________











within himself


our


although


solution71

___________________








Witnesses and victims of massacre: the literary testimony of Samuel Usque and Etty Hillesum

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Transcript of Witnesses and victims of massacre: the literary testimony of Samuel Usque and Etty Hillesum