Education

For pupils and students

Educatie is een van de pijlers van het Etty Hillesum Huis. Het is belangrijk dat Etty’s nalatenschap, nu de laatste getuigen van de Tweede Wereldoorlog wegvallen en volgende generaties steeds verder van deze geschiedenis af komen te staan, behouden blijft en doorgegeven wordt.

Het gedachtegoed van Etty Hillesum is van onschatbare waarde en kan zeker voor jonge mensen een inspiratiebron en leidraad  zijn om hun jonge leven vorm en inhoud te geven. Dat gedachtegoed legde zij vast in haar dagboekaantekeningen en brieven die zij schreef tijdens de inktzwarte periode van de Tweede Wereldoorlog, een periode waarin het antisemitisme volop de kans kreeg om om zich heen te grijpen. In deze dagboeken maakt zij al schrijvend een spirituele reis met de bedoeling zich zelf te leren kennen om zó te kunnen worden wie zij is en trouw aan zich zelf te blijven.Maar zij neemt de lezer ook mee in haar twijfels, vragen en antwoorden met betrekking tot de oorlog.

De huidige situatie in de wereld vraagt om extra zorg en aandacht. De urgentie is groot om met name jonge mensen perspectief te bieden, maar ook handvatten om zich open te stellen, niet alleen voor hun eigen mening en gevoel, maar ook voor de mening en het gevoel van de ander.

Het Huis heeft diverse onderwijs programma’s samengesteld waarin het gedachtegoed van Etty Hillesum toegankelijk is gemaakt voor jongeren. De programma’s worden uitgevoerd in samenwerking met docenten en houden altijd rekening met niveau, leeftijd en wensen van docenten en leerlingen.

Voor het primair onderwijs, het voortgezet onderwijs en het hoger onderwijs ontwikkelt het EHH zelf educatief materiaal, initieert  en participeert in verschillende onderwijsprojecten.

 

Gastlessen 

 het Etty Hillesum Huis verzorgt ook gastlessen  voor het voortgezet en hoger onderwijs die de volgende onderwerpen behandelen:

  • De opkomst van het nazisme in Duitsland
  • De Jodenvervolging in Nederland
  • De concentratiekampen 1933 – 1945
  • Westerbork: Van vluchtelingenkamp tot doorgangskamp
  • Kamp Westerbork en de commandant

 

The research centre is available for use by school students doing a profile paper or students writing a paper or thesis. Among other resources, the centre holds books and information about Etty Hillesum, the persecution of the Jews and World War II. Volunteers are also available for questions and guidance.

 

Etty for future generations

Who is Etty Hillesum and why should you read her?You will find the answer in the video below. To learn or teach about Etty, you can use the material provided on this website. The materials consist of three teaching packages and a film, also available in English. The materials were produced as part of a Straits Committee Small Project Initiative, co-funded by Kent County Council and Province of Zeeland. The project was implemented by the Etty Hillesum House ( Middelburg) and the Poetry Practice (Canterbury, United Kingdom). In spring 2023, the partners organised this exchange project on the importance of Etty Hillesum for future generations, in a spirit that favours peace over war, love over hatred and human dignity over humiliation. The project consisted of an Etty Hillesum Day in Canterbury on 24 February 2023 for schoolchildren and students, and an evening with speakers Klaas Smelik and Rowan Williams. On 21 April 2023, the Etty Hillesum House launched onsite and online a set of English-language educational materials, bringing Etty's example to life for young people worldwide. An impression of the exchange project can be found in the slideshow on this page.

To receive the educational material, send an email to info@ettyhillesumhuis.nl mentioning your name and the educational institution you work at. You will receive the material digitally.

 

Secondary Education

Etty Hillesum Discussion Pack for UK Upper Key Stage 4 and 5
In dialogue with Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum Discussion Pack. In dialogue with Etty Hillesum is a teaching pack focusing on the skill of dialogue. Pupils and students engage in a dialogue with each other and the teacher on various topics, based on various quotations from Etty Hillesum's texts. 

Purpose and goals
  • Purpose and Goals • To use quotes from the writings of Etty Hillesum to develop and employ discussion skills in relation to four themes: inner and outer peace, the refusal to hate, the promotion of love and the development of inner resilience. • To apply thought on these themes drawn from a historical setting to our own contemporary setting. • To participate in practical and reflective tasks in order develop personal insights on the four themes.
  • To apply thought on these themes drawn from a historical setting to our own contemporary setting.
  • To participate in practical and reflective tasks in order develop personal insights on the four themes.

(This teaching package will soon also be available to order in a Dutch edition).

An interactive writing workshop

In two sessions, pupils are introduced to Etty Hillesum and the historical context of her time through film and diary fragments. Through various writing assignments, pupils come into contact with a number of special stylistic figures found in Etty's diary texts. Students are introduced to different forms of expression in language and put them into practice themselves through various exercises. 

Teaching pack:'Etty Hillesum: an inspiration for a life without hatred'

For secondary schools ( upper secondary), a teaching pack has been developed, 'Etty Hillesum: an inspiration for a life without hatred'. In this teaching pack, Etty's life is set in the context of her time. The teaching pack consists of texts and various questions and assignments that invite pupils to reflect and enter into dialogue with each other.

To receive the educational materials digitally, please send an e-mail to info@ettyhillesumhuis.nl info@ettyhillesumhuis.nl mentioning your name and the institution you work at. You will receive the material digitally.

Primary Education

Etty Hillesum: 'Becoming Who You Are'

In 2021, the education officer of the Etty Hillesum House, Lauda Maartens, artists Liesbeth Labeur, Bo de Jong and poet Anna de Bruyckere, launched the project ‘Etty Hillesum: Becoming who you are' in cooperation with Kunsteducatie Walcheren. Primary school children from Key Stage 2 and early Key Stage 3 are introduced to Etty Hillesum and her life story through a special film screening. Then, using three different art disciplines (visual art, creative writing and dressing up activities) Etty's thinking in the context of her time and our own time is experienced in a concrete way.

The project is carried out partly in schools and partly in the birthplace of Etty Hillesum at Molenwater 77 in Middelburg.

The project can be purchased through Kunsteducatie Walcheren and KCE Oosterschelderegio. For more information and bookings, please contact educatie@kewalcheren.nl. educatie@kewalcheren.nl

Teaser film 'Becoming who you are'( 'Worden wie je bent')

Visit the Etty Hillesum House

Students will start by watching a short film at school about Etty Hillesum's life during World War II in preparation for the visit to the Etty Hillesum House. The visit to the house consists of a guided tour of the exhibition and a philosophy workshop: 'In dialogue with Etty'. In addition, there is the possibility to extend this programme with a Jewish walk through Middelburg.

For more information on duration and costs of the educational programs, please contact Lauda Maartens of the Education Department at: info@ettyhillesumhuis.nl