Death is something all humans have in common. What differs between humans is how they view death. Different philosophers have different views on death. Philosophers such as: Socrates, Baum, and Russell. Another person, who some consider a philosopher; Etty Hillesum shares her views on death in her essay "Facing Death". While writing this essay Hillesum was a prisoner of war. She was a Jew stuck in a Nazi concentration camp during world war two. These camps killed Jews by the hundreds of thousands. It was a sick sight of death everyday. In this essay we can see how someone so close to dying views death.
             Hillesum starts her essay by recounting one night that she was laying in bed. As she lies in bed she hears the sounds of gun shots and bombs. She knows that at any minute she could be torn to pieces. "..any minute now a piece of shrapnel could come through that window. It's quite possible. And it's equally possible that there would be a lot of pain. And yet I felt so deeply peaceful and grateful, there in my bed, and meekly resigned to all the disasters and pains that might be in store for me." Even though she could have been destroyed at any moment she felt no stress. She could care less about what was going on around her. She didn't even care to move out of the way of the window to avoid shrapnel, if it were to come through. This seems similar to how Socrates would have reacted in this situation. He believed that the body was used to in the pursuit of evil things, so he would not be worried about harm done to it. He would have laid there relaxed and unstressed. I think Russell would say that she should fear the shrapnel coming through the window. If we have no fear of death there would be no point in life at all, "most of us would deplore". Next Hillesum goes on to say that she does not "feel in anybody's clutches. I feel safe in God's ar
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