The discussion on the transcription, editing, translation, and reception of Hillesum's work illustrates how unstable texts are and that it is relevant to our understanding of how new meanings are generated. A text is a social product and takes different shapes as it passes from one social milieu to another. Thus, the author is not the only source of validity, and all variant texts carry their own authority. This process does not end with the author's death, but readers participate in it by creating new versions of the text.

This article deals with the reception of Etty Hillesum's work in Portugal. We must bear in mind that only since the 1990s has Dutch literature begun to be translated into Portuguese more regularly, nonetheless there are not many translations of Dutch works which means that the public is not familiar with writers from the Netherlands or Flanders. Second, during the sixteenth century, Jews were forcibly converted or expelled from the country by the Inquisition. Although Portugal is a secular state, it remains predominantly a Roman Catholic country. Finally, Portugal was a neutral country during the Second World War.