Passion, compassion and tenderness as non-material heritage of Etty Hillesum for the caring professions: Her diary as a fundamental option for the common good

Abstract

The diary of Etty Hillesum facilitates a fundamental way of understanding the common good. According to Hillesum, who died aged 27 at Auschwitz and who chose to remain with the other prisoners, one cannot live without feeling responsible for the common good. Etty can therefore be regarded, in the words of Maritain, as a “generous I” even to the point of sacrificing her own life. She represents an “I” who in her writings shows a way of not losing hope and brightness to those working in helping relationships.