Corrie Ten Boom and her family were devout Christians, and actively looked for opportunities to put their faith into practice. When Nazzi forces overran the Netherlands in 1940, Corrie’s life took an unexpected turn. As the German occupation combed the country for Jews, the Ten Booms opened their home to the desperate fugitives. The watchmaker shop proved to be the perfect front for an underground safehouse.
A false wall was set up in Corrie’s bedroom that created a tiny space in which to hide. The Gestapo would conduct regular searches of the town. As the secret police arrived, a warning bell would give their Jewish guests one minute to reach the hiding place. The Ten Boom house became a center for an underground system that would aid and protect the fugitives. Corrie became a leader in the resistance movement. It is estimated that 800 Jews were saved through the efforts of the Ten Booms.
On February 28, 1944, the Gestapo received word from an informant of the Ten Boom’s activities. That day, they raided the house and arrested the entire family. Corrie’s father died of illness in a Nazzi prison shortly after. Corrie and her sister, Betsy, were transferred to the infamous Ravensbrueck concentration camp in Germany. Meanwhile, the six Jews at the Ten Boom house were rescued by Dutch resistance after three days in hiding.
The harsh treatment, brutal labour, malnourishment, and exposure proved overwhelming, and Betsy died in December, 1944. Corrie, however, was unexplainably released shortly after. Following the war, she began a ministry that rehabilitated concentration camp survivors. She devoted the remaining 33 years of her life to serving those hurt by the war, regardless of what side they had been on.
Her autobiography, The Hiding Place reveals a story of relentless faith and unfathomable forgiveness.
Verse of the day: Psalm 32:7
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.