How Jewish was Etty Hillesum? Why were certain post-war Jewish reactions to Etty Hillesum so negative? I would like to make an attempt to answer these two questions. My first starting point will be a report that appeared in 2001, titled “De Joden in Nederland anno 2000”. The first part of this report contains a demographic profile of the current Jewish population in the Netherlands and can, in my opinion, contribute to a better understanding of Etty Hillesum in certain post-war Jewish circles. The second part is the report of a sociological study among various age groups regarding their ties with Jewry. I will, in a manner of speaking, ask Etty Hillesum the highly specific and concrete questions that were also submitted to the Jewish respondents to this research and try to reconstruct her answers on the basis of the diaries she left behind. These diaries were not meant to be published and may be regarded as a sincere self-testimony. During Etty Hillesum's lifetime, what was her own Jewish context, her connection with Jewry?

How Jewish was Etty Hillesum?

In the demographic part of the aforementioned report, the study into the matter of being or feeling Jewish of the interviewed persons is divided into a number of highly concrete question complexes, including: First, the practical execution of the Jewish religion and the honouring of Jewish celebrations and traditions.