Rebecca Hillesum was a daughter of Hartog Hillesum and Marianne van Collem. She was born on 5 November 1908 in Amsterdam, worked as a diamond cutter and on 22February 1926 she became a member of section 4 (brilliant cutters) of the ANDB, the General Dutch Diamond Workers' Union. From mid-June 1915 the Hillesum family lived at Moddermolensteeg 12 in Amsterdam until they left for Antwerp in June 192…