The first meeting between Etty Hillesum (1914-1943) and my father Klaas Smelik Senior (1897-1986) proved, ultimately, to be more significant than those two could ever have imagined at the time. Without this accidental meeting, Etty Hillesum's diaries would probably never have been published, and the world would be deprived of the inspiration that Etty Hillesum, through her writings, has offered – and continues to offer – to so many readers.

The course of events that led to this encounter, however, cannot be reconstructed easily. Etty Hillesum does not write about it in the texts she left us, and Klaas Smelik Senior's memories of this event were not consistent. He was interviewed on this subject several times. In this contribution, an attempt will be made to gain more clarity on this issue.

Here is, first of all, an overview of the various interviews with Klaas Smelik Senior about Etty Hillesum in the period 1980-1985, which have remained partly unpublished. In order to get the best overview, each has been assigned a serial letter:

In what follows, it will be shown that in these interviews Klaas Smelik Senior does not always say the same things about his first meeting with Etty Hillesum.