January 17th.

“..ought we not ..from time to time ..open ourselves up to cosmic sadness. Give your sorrow all ..space and shelter in yourself that is its due ..for if everyone bears his grief honestly and courageously ..sorrow that now fills ..World will abate. But if you do not clear a decent shelter for your sorrow ..and instead reserve most of ..space inside you for hatred and thoughts of revenge ..from which new sorrows will be born for others ..then sorrow will never cease in this World and will multiply.” Etty Hillesum.

January 17th. 1939 Jewish dentists, pharmacists and vets lose their license to work.

“..If there were only one decent German ..then he should be cherished despite that whole barbaric gang ..and because of that one decent German it is wrong to pour hatred over an entire people.” Etty Hillesum.

January 17th. 1942 Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau, who sought Wehrmacht Einsatzgruppe cooperation in Russia, dies!

“..What I put down on paper ..must be perfect straight away.” Etty Hillesum.

January 17th. 1944 Over 400 Malines Jews to Auschwitz.

“..Ultimately ..we have just one moral duty ..to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves ..more and more peace ..and to reflect it towards others. And ..more peace there is in us ..more peace there will be in our troubled world.” Etty Hillesum.

January 17th. 1945 Russian forces liberate Warsaw where more than 374,000 Jews of Warsaw were murdered. Few Jews Survive. Raoul Wallenberg is detained by Russians and disappears. “..By coming to terms with life ..I mean ..reality of death has become a definite part of my life ..my life has ..so to speak ..been extended by death ..by my looking death in ..eye and accepting it ..by accepting destruction as part of life and no longer wasting my energies on fear of death or ..refusal to acknowledge its inevitability. It sounds paradoxical ..by excluding death from our life we cannot live a full life ..and by admitting death into our life we enlarge and enrich it.” Etty Hillesum


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