On 13 June 2006, under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Klaas A.D. Smelik, the Etty Hillesum Research Centre (EHOC) was established at Ghent University as part of the Department of Languages and Cultures of the Near East and North Africa. On 1 October 2015, the new Etty Hillesum Research Centre in Middelburg was opened by former mayor Harald Bergmann. On 1 October 2019, historian Dr Lotte Bergen became director of the EHOC. A year later, the research centre moved to Molenwater 77, where it forms an integral part of the Etty Hillesum House. The Research Centre coordinates and stimulates research into the war diaries and letters of Etty Hillesum (1914-1943). Researchers from various disciplines from the Netherlands and abroad participate in this research. The Research Centre functions as a contact forum, making the study of this remarkable author's writings visible worldwide.
– providing a forum for researchers of Etty Hillesum's posthumous writings in the United Kingdom and abroad
– archiving worldwide research on Etty Hillesum and maintaining the Etty Hillesum bibliography
– conducting its own research on Etty Hillesum
– acting as a point of contact for students and recent graduates in the Netherlands and abroad who wish to conduct research on Etty Hillesum, as well as for artists who have been inspired by Etty Hillesum
– organising symposiums, lectures and debates
– maintaining contact with the various organisations involved with Etty Hillesum
The Etty Hillesum Foundation has compiled an extensive archive on Etty Hillesum. This archive has been transferred to the Jewish Cultural Quarter in Amsterdam. It contains the original diary notebooks, her letters and photographic material, as well as part of Hillesum's library with her notes. For further information, please visit www.jck.nl.
The Etty Hillesum House also has its own archive with study materials and a library with books about Etty Hillesum that can be consulted in the research centre.
