Etty For Our Times
Etty Hillesum is a young Jewish Dutch woman writing diaries in Amsterdam during the Second World War. In these diaries and later, her letters from Westerbork concentration camp, Etty bears witness to what it means to be human and commits herself to a radical choice: not to hate, even as she opens her heart to the horrors unfolding around her. She wrestles to write the life she is living — her loves, her work, her humor, her spirituality, and her transformation. She was murdered in Auschwitz in 1943 at the age of 29.
In February 1942 she writes: I really see
no other solution than to turn inward and to root out all the
rottenness there. I no longer believe that we can change anything
in the world until we have first changed ourselves. And that seems
to me the only lesson to be learned from this war.
Etty asks us
not to leave her in Auschwitz but to have a tiny
little bit of a say
in what she hopes will be a new world.
Introducing Etty Project
Etty , the one-woman play told in Hillesum’s own words, opens us to the moment of her becoming, just as the world around her is coming undone. The second act asks the audience to join the conversation, fostering dialogue on human rights, resistance, and personal responsibility.
The Etty Project propels little known diaries into our own time to connect us with people from history, one story at a time. Workshops and residencies in schools, universities, prisons, and houses of worship consider the dangers and consequences of racism, antisemitism, and discrimination and promote social justice. Performances and workshops are customized to venue and audience.
Etty Project in the News
Doppler Online's review of Etty
Douglas McLean's article Play embodies the writings of a young woman facing the brutality of the Nazis reviews Susan Stein's performance of Etty at All Saints’ Anglican Church, part of Susan's Canadian tour.
PublicSource article on Susan Stein, Duquesne University, and the Incarcerated
Maddy Franklin article Slings and arrows set aside in Allegheny County Jail-based ‘Hamlet’ workshops in PublicSource describes a unique program where Duquesne University students spent a semester with incarcerated individuals using Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” as a means to discuss justice and “squash the beef.”
Notable Quotes
One day with Susan Stein can prevent a lifetime of hate.
— Melody Meadows, teacher at Harrison Central High
School in Cadiz, Ohio.
On Stage Pittsburgh review of Etty
Britt Haefeli of On Stage Pittsburgh reviewed the recent performance of of Etty at the Carnegie Stage.
Lynn Cullen Live
Susan Stein appeared on the Lynn Cullen Live podcast on April 12th to discuss her play Etty and her work in Pittsburgh area theaters, schools, and prisons.