Religion & Holocaust - Article Example

Etty Hillesum & Religion & Holocaust Etty Hillesum spirituality as a force to explain the Holocaust Etty Hillesum had no desire for organised religion. Life was absurd. God was helpless (12/07/1942) but religious faith was possible through inner spiritual work of the soul in any situation or condition. We, looking back to the Shoah, say that it is not plausible that any explanation be given for the atrocities of what went on. The theory that it was Gods fault, Etty explained, was an easy way out. Man created this world (1940s) and its atrocities, because of lack of faith in God. Her faith and belief in God helped many get through the horrible times before being transferred to Auschwitz. She did feel life was absurd though there were things each individual person could gain. Religion was not wishful thinking. She had a special religious vocation which was beyond the understanding of the times and a little bit more comprehensible today. "Fear created the first Gods". Perhaps, Etty considered that fear also took spirituality away from most. "Moreover, life itself contradicts the most basic of human aspirations: to live without suffering and cruelty because most are not prepared in "healing the soul". Life require work on the soul. This sound trite as a phrase but it was her aspiration in turning suffering and cruelty into an experience where some benefit could begotten. She made a transition in 1943, as she actually felt it was not fair that she did not share the suffering of others and volunteered to be transferred.. There are different explanations of the Holocaust but non like Etty Hillesum. Her diaries written from 1941-1943 give an incredible outlook to how one young women dealt with the atrocities from looking within. She shared her inspirations with others. She inspired many. Ester Hillesum was born in the Netherlands January 15, 1914. She died in Auschwitz November 30 1943. One of the most influential person in her short life taught her the value of looking within for the necessary answers of ones problems . Julias Spier, a psycho-chirologist, studied with Carl Jung the technique of analyzing the lines of the hand. Etty met him in 1941 at a conference and then in therapy. He showed her the value of writing as a part of her therapy. In her letters, she refers to him as .S. Etty became his good friend and secretary. She continued writing her diaries for 3 years. They are written in the forms of letters representing a spiritual journey. She wished to become a journalist if she made it after the war. S woke the God in her. She saw that God was omnipresent in all aspects of life. She had two tendencies in her letters: to write of the God within her; and to write of the God of creation and creatures. Towards the end of the diary she converges these two thoughts. "For once you have begun to walk with God, you need only keep on walking with Him and all of life becomes on long stroll ...such a marvellous feeling....(14/07/1942). She continued writing about God until the end of her life. God is within man. Because God could do nothing with what man was doing at this time in life (WWII), she said it was time for man to help God. Take care of his presence. Dont just offer him your tears and sadness but make his time he has with you as agreeable as possible. Hatred and anger are the easy route to take though you have every right to do so. Any element of moral indignation touches the soul. One element of hatred, one atom more of hatred added to this world renders it even more disagreeable. Life is absurd, but man still has libre-arbitre over his proper soul. "This hatred and animosity which exist in others is also in us. I dont see any other solution other than cleaning our souls of this rot. We cannot improve the outside world without having made progress within ourselves. There is one lesson that can be learned from the war, the need to look within". A lite comparison done in 2011 would be going to a cancer waiting room, seeing everyone with sour faces. Bring a box of chocolates, or tell a joke for everyone to hear before you go in for your chemo. It brings strength to your soul and shows others that their souls still can be cleaned. Moreover, life itself contradicts the most basic of human aspirations: to live without suffering and cruelty.” Realising that suffering is part of those who cannot be transformed, life no longer was a contradiction. There are those who want to suffer. Cruelty is part of suffering. This does not condone the Shoah. At a moment, when she understood that she could not transform the suffering of those, whose hatred prevented their inner progress, thus causing suffering to acquiescent to the cruelty of the camp, she felt it was not longer fair that she felt such joy in life and asked to be transferred in order to share in this feeling. Jews have suffered repeatedly during centuries: the pogroms, the plagues, the inquisitions......Ascetics have appeared in each century. Fear is not our transformation of God, hatred is. Hatred creates dictators, social acceptance of changed morality. At Eichmans trial, he said he was only doing what he thought he was morally supposed to do. "We have only to pray with all our strength that the situation improves, while we are morally capable to accept this improvement. When the hatred will have turned use into ferocious beasts like them it will be too late". Fear has not created the first gods, hatred has created the statues of gods and the ferocious beasts to follow them. "True peace will come when every individual finds peace within himself; when we have all vanquished and transformed our hatred for our fellow human beings of whatever race--even into love one day. It is the only solution." Its our good legacy for generations to come. Etty was born into an agnostic family. Her practice of spirituality came from her own discovery and not out of the study in books. Before 1941, she was lost in the different intellectual circles of Amsterdam. She had failed her exam to get into law school. She studied Slavic studies and then went on to tutor. With the awakening of her spirituality, she did not like it to be called religion, she wrote to cure her inner periods of depression and to learn about the world around her. She wrote 13 folders in all. 2 are lost. There are two publications and a compilation. God helps us understand our fear of faith by listening to our inner selves and also by listening to the inner selves of others. He is our reason for living and gives an inner peace in our "inner households" with all the conflicting elements and issues. This desire for harmony helps us keep faith in humanity as it is today. These ideas were as a woman worked in a preliminary camp constructed primarily to send Jews to Palestine. In 1942, the Germans took over. The ideas, Etty had, were universal and can be used today.       References Pleshoyano, A. Etty Hillesum: For God and with God. Web. 19 March 2011 http:/www. theway.org.uk Hillesum, Etty. An Interrupted Life: The Diaries and Letters of Etty Hillesum, London: Persephone Books, 1999. Read More