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E T T Y H I L L E S U M
C O N F E R E N C E G H E N T
E T T Y H I L L E S U M
H E R L E T T E R S & D I A R I E S
O R G A N I S E D B Y
T H E E T T Y H I L L E S U M R E S E A R C H C E N T R E
O F G H E N T U N I V E R S I T Y
2 4 - 2 6 N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 8
PLACE OF MEETING: For the opening on Monday afternoon Department of Languages and Cultures of the Near East and North Africa, Sint-Pietersplein 6, 9000 Ghent, telephone: **329-2644134 (EHOC) or **329-2643555 (secretariat)
For the openings speech of the Rector on Monday
evening and for the duration of the conference:
“Het Pand”, Onderbergen 1, 9000 Ghent, telephone **329-2648262
The aim of the Etty Hillesum Congress 2008 is to invite Hillesum scholars from all over the world to exchange valu-
able insights and to discuss problems that arise when studying The Letters and Diaries 1941-1943. It is a unique and privileged opportunity to meet other col-leagues in the field and to learn from their work, as well as to make use of the facilities of the Etty Hillesum Research Centre at Ghent University. It is an ideal moment to give Etty Hillesum, her Letters and Diaries, her vision and life, a wider publicity and media coverage.
website: http://www.ehoc.ugent.be/congress2008
A U G U S T 2 0 0 8
E H O C - B U L L E T I N , N U M B E R 4
I N T H I S N U M B E R
Etty Hillesum 1
Conference Ghent
Theme Congress
1
2
New book Meins
G. S. Coetsier
3
In memoriam
Johanna Smelik
4
New affiliated
Members
4
Q U O T A T I O N
‘I am sure it would be
good for me to sleep
for days, to let go com
pletely. The doctor
said yesterday that my
inner life is too in-
tense, that I must
come down to earth,
that I keep knocking
at the gates of heaven,
and that my physique
simply cannot stand it.
Perhaps he is right. ’
(The Letters and
Diaries, Sept. 15
1942)
EHOC
ETTY HILLESUM ONDERZOEKSCENTRUM
The Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum (1914-1943), edited by Prof. Dr. Klaas A. D. Smelik, have a special place among the Jewish-Dutch testimonies of the Shoah. They contain not only a description of Camp Westerbork during the Nazi occupation, but also reflect Etty Hille-sums important, though unfortunately inter-rupted existential search of an ethical, phi-losophical and literary nature. Since her death the diaries have received worldwide attention and inspired thousands of readers.
T H E C O N G R E S S P R E S E N T S T W O
C E N T R A L T H E M E S
(i) Etty Hillesum as writer
(ii) The spirituality of Etty Hillesum
Organization
The congress will be organised by the Etty Hillesum Research Centre, Ghent University (EHOC, website: http://www.ehoc.ugent.be) in cooperation with the Institutum Iudaicum, Interuniversity Centre for the
Academic Study of Judaism in Belgium (website: http://www.theo.kuleuven.ac.be/
institutumiudaicum) and the Heyendaal research program of the Faculty of Religious Studies, Radboud
University Nijmegen.
The Congress Chair
Prof. Dr. Klaas A.D. Smelik (Ghent University, director EHOC); Prof. Dr. Didier Pollefeyt (KU Leuven, Chair-man of Institutum Iudaicum); Dr. Ria van den Brandt(Heyendaal Research program of the Faculty of Reli-
gious Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen)
Speakers
Prof. Dr. Wil van den Bercken (Utrecht University, The Netherlands); Dr. Ria van den Brandt (Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands); Prof. Dr. Rachel F. Brenner (University of Wiscon-sin, United States); Prof. Dr. Francesca Brezzi (Università di Roma III, Italy); Dr. Meins Coetsier (EHOC, Ghent University); Dr. Denise de Costa ('s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands); Drs. Patricia Couto (Lissabon, Portugal); Dr. Stephan van Erp (Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands); Drs. Jan Geurt Gaarlandt (Haarlem, The Netherlands); Frits Grimmelikhuizen (Deventer, The Nether-lands); Prof. Dr. Paul Lebeau (Faculté de Théologie de la Compagnie de Jésus, Brussels, Belgium); Prof. Dr. Fulvio Manara (Università degli Studi di Bergamo, Italy); Prof. Dr. Maria Filomena Molder (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal); Drs. Nadia Neri (Rome, Italy); Mr. Manja Pach (Deventer, The Netherlands); Drs. Debbie Pevenage (EHOC, Ghent); Prof. Dr. Alexandra Pleshoyano (Université de Sherbrooke, Canada); Dr. Bettine Siertsema (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands); Prof. Dr. Klaas Smelik (EHOC, Ghent University); Susan Stein (Princeton, United States); Gerrit Van Oord (Rome, Italy); Canon Patrick Woodhouse (Wells, England)
Accommodation
Accommodation for the speakers will be taken care of by the Etty Hillesum Foundation. The staff of the Etty Hillesum Research Centre will mediate in recommending places to stay to congress partici-pants. You can contact coordinator Dr. Meins Coetsier (**329-2644134 or **32487-292771; e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] ). The EHOC made some special arrangements with the IBIS hotels in Ghent on two locations (Ibis Opera en Ibis Cathedral). Just contact Ibis with the follo-wing details: fax 0032/9 233 10 00 or by e-mail [email protected], make sure you mention the code EHOC conference. For further questions contact Ibis: GROUP RESERVATION DEPARTMENT IBIS GHENT HOTELS (open Monday-Friday van 9hr tot 17hr) tel. +3292330000 fax +3292331000, www.ibishotel.com
Page 2 E H O C - B U L L E T I N , N U M B E R 4
The book of EHOC Staff member Dr. Meins G. S. Coetsier, published in America by University of Missouri Press, came out July 2, 2008.
Synopsis provided by the publisher: Although she died cru-elly at Auschwitz at the age of twenty-nine, Etty Hillesum left a lasting legacy of mystical thought in her letters and diaries. Hillesum was a complex and powerful witness to the openness of the human spirit to the call of God, even under the most harrowing circumstances. Her life was as much shaped by Hitler’s regime as was that of philosopher Eric Voegelin, and as Meins Coetsier reveals, her thought lends it-self to interpretation from a uniquely Voegelinian perspective. ‘Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence’ analyzes the life and writings of Hillesum from the standpoint of Voegelin’s views on consciousness - especially his philosophy of luminous partici-pation in the transcendent ground of being. Through a careful reading of her letters and diaries, Coetsier reveals the inner development of Hillesum’s mystically grounded resistance to Nazism as he guides readers through the symbolism of her spiritual journey, making effective use of Voegelin’s analytics of experience and symbolization to trace her path to spiritual truth. Intertwining the lives, works, and visions of these two mystical thinkers, Coetsier demonstrates his mastery of both Voegelin’s philosophy and Hillesum’s Dutch-language materials. He shows how mystical attunement to the ‘flow of presence’ - Voegelin’s designation for human responsiveness to the divine - is the key to the development of Hillesum’s life and writings. He displays a special affinity for the suffering and grace-filled transformation that she underwent as she approached the end of her life and gained insight into the ultimate purpose of each individual’s contri-bution to the well-being and maintenance of the human spirit. Retrieving one of the lesser-known but most compelling figures of the Holocaust, ‘Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence’ is an original con-tribution to both Voegelin and Hillesum scholarship that reflects these writers’ strong valuation of the human person. It presents Hillesum’s life and work in an original and provocative context, shedding new light on her experiences and their symbolizations while further broadening the application of Voegelin’s thought. Etty Hillesum and the Flow of Presence: A Voegelinian Analysis (Eric Voegelin Institute Series in Political Philosophy: Studies in Religion and Politics) by Meins G. S. Coetsier (Author) Hardcover: 248 pages Publisher:
University of Missouri Press Language: English ISBN-10: 0826217974 ISBN-13: 978-0826217974 Price: $37.50
Page 3 E H O C - B U L L E T I N , N U M B E R 4
N E W B O O K B Y M E I N S G . S . C O E T S I E R
Costs and Registration
Registration is possible from June 1, 2008 at the EHOC, Department of Languages and Cultures of the Near East and North Africa, Sint-Pietersplein 6, 9000 Ghent, telephone: **329-2644134 (EHOC) or **329-2643555 (secretariat) e-mail: [email protected].
Costs of participation: 50 euro (including theater performance, four times coffee/tea and participa-tion at the closing reception). Special student fee: 30 euro.
The costs must be met before October 22, 2008 on Bank account 001-5552289-85 of the Etty Hil-lesum Research Centre, Ghent [IBAN: BE89001555228985, BIC: GEBABEBB] Please include your name.
Contact person: Dr. Meins Coetsier (**329-2644134 or **32487-292771; e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] ).
Prof. Dr. Wil van den Bercken
(University of Utrecht, the Netherlands)
Drs. Patricia Couto (Lissabon, Portugal)
Prof. Dr. Maria Filomena Molder
(Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal)
Dr. Bettine Siertsema
(VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
canon Patrick Woodhouse (Wells, England)
Prof. Dr. Francesca Brezzi (Università di Roma III, Italy)
Dr. Stephan van Erp
(Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands)
Drs. Rob Tempelaars
(Prepared the Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum)
W WW . E H O C . U G E N T . B E
N E W S
Contact address:
Sint-Pietersplein 6
B 9000 Ghent, Belgium
T 09 264 41 34
T 09 264 35 55
E T T Y H I L L E S U M O N D E R Z O E K S C E N T R U M
N E W A F F I L I A T E D M E M B E R S
Johanna Smelik, who in the diaries of Etty Hillesum is
mentioned as Jopie, died on April 14, 2008. Johanna
got to know Etty through her father Klaas Smelik
(1897-1986) and the two young women became the
best of friends. Even during the years of the War the
two remained in touch. At various places in the
diaries Hillesum wrote about “Jopie”. When after the
War Klaas Smelik received the diaries from Maria
Tuinzing, who handed them over in order to publish
them, his daughter Johanna typed up and copied
parts of the text, especially from cahier 11. She
could, unlike her father, read Etty’s unclear
handwriting. When it was apparent that she would
not live much longer, Meins Coetsier visited Johanna
Smelik in 2007 and interviewed her. This interview, recorded on video, resulted in a film of two hours
of a fascinating conversation with this ninety-year-old woman, who was still very sharp and lively.
Johanna Smelik had even after all these years not forgotten Etty Hillesum. “I carry Etty with me,” she
said with full conviction. Etty put the emphasis on being human and on the wonder of life that
according to Johanna Smelik for both of them had remained a great mystery. Now, Johanna Smelik’s
life has come to an end. The mystery of life she could not unravel, but her loyal friendship towards
her friend, who was taken from her by race ideological madness, which both women had always
strongly opposed, will remain a permanent sign of their mutual desire for a better world.
I N M E M O R I A M