The Jungian Inspired Holocaust Writings of Etty Hillesum

Within this fascinating new book, Barbara Morrill analyses the journal writings of Etty Hillesum, a young Jewish woman in the 1940s, as she began analysis with a Jungian oriented practitioner in 1941.

While Anne Frank is an inspirational figure, little is known about Etty Hillesum, also from Amsterdam, who kept a diary recounting her life and experiences during early World War II. This book is a compelling example of how we can use Etty Hillesum?s writings in the present to stand firm against the problems we?re currently facing globally. Being a Jungian oriented Integral psychologist and professor, the author examines what Hillesum recorded in her time, as well as employing Etty?s ideas to illuminate the chaos in our time. She explores Hillesum?s own process of individuation and realization, encouraging others to ?develop yourselves!?

This will be a unique volume of interest to Jungian analysts, analysts in training, as well as readers with an interest in the time period and concern about democracy and ?our times.?

"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 Etty Hillesum resonates with us today because they both offer us the most extraordinary example from the Holocaust of the indomitable spirit of the individual keeping hope for the future of humanity alive."

Thomas Singer, MD and Jungian analyst, editor of Cultural Complexes and the Soul of America and Mind of State: Conversations on the Conflicts Stirring US Politics and Society

Dr. Morrill?s 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 soul?s wisdom in the midst of the most harrowing of outer circumstance. Morrill draws on Jungian psychology to help us navigate our own experiences of collective trauma. Etty?s life and wisdom guide us in how to stay connected with the compassionate truth that lives at the center of our beings.

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

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.

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