Corrie ten Boom and the "Hiding Place"

Those of you who have read The Hiding Place will be familiar with the courageous and inspirational story of Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsy who, together with their father, were actively involved in the underground movement to save Dutch Jews from the Nazis.  Although it was extremely dangerous to work against the Nazis during the German occupation of Holland, the ten Boom family offered shelter to hundreds of Jews in their home in Haarlem.  They lived just a stone's throw from St. Bavo's church, and they were devout Christians.  A mission organization gives wonderful free tours of their house with its secret "hiding place" for Jews, and I was deeply moved to hear the story of their lives in the very home they lived in.  It felt like a sacred space, particularly since four members of the ten Boom family gave their lives for this work.  This picture is from a neighborhood bordering the St. Elizabeth Almshouse in Haarlem, not far from the ten Boom house.

This is the ten Boom's living room, located above the watch shop where Corrie and her father made and repaired clocks.  Corrie and Betsy were in their forties when WWII began.  Their father and grandfather had been great admirers of the Jewish faith, and the family eagerly provided temporary refuge to many Jews.  They lived too close to the police station to keep their visitors permanently safe.  In the evenings, they would play the piano, sing, and have prayers together as Christians and Jews.

The "hiding place" was to be used for emergencies only.  It was a narrow space carefully constructed behind a false wall in Corrie's bedroom.  It could only hold about six people, and most of them would have to stand, or take turns sitting.  In this picture part of the brick wall has been removed to give a better view of the space, but originally the "hiding place" was only accessible through a secret door in the linen closet.

The back of the bottom shelf could be lifted up, and people could crawl in.  Then the door would be closed, folded linen placed in front of it, and the police would not suspect anything unusual.  The ten Booms even arranged for one of the people hiding to sit with their back against the linen cupboard so that if the police knocked on it, it wouldn't sound hollow.  One day, the ten Booms were betrayed.  The Gestapo showed up, and Betsy sounded the alarm.  Several Jews and two young men working for the underground resistance scrambled into the "hiding place" in seventy seconds.  The police searched the house in vain, but they arrested Corrie, Betsy, and her father.  They were held in prison in Holland for several days.  The police tried to make Corrie and Betsy's elderly father promise not to hide Jews anymore: "You're an old man," they said.  "It's better that you die at home in bed."  He responded, "If you let me go, tomorrow I will open my door again to assist the Jews."  They beat and tortured him, and he died within a few days.  Betsy and Corrie were sent to a concentration camp.

This is a picture of the space inside the "hiding place"--it was difficult to get a good photo because the room is so small.  Meanwhile, the Nazis had left guards in the ten Boom house, but the underground resistance devised a plan to smuggle out the hidden Jews.  They communicated with Dutch police officers who were secretly opposed to the Nazis, and one night the ten Boom house was entirely staffed by these Dutch police.  The occupants of the "hiding place"--who had been without water for some time--were then able to get out.  Betsy did not survive the concentration camp, but not long after her death, Corrie was released due to an administration error.  It was January, and as she rode a train back to the Netherlands, she remembered her sister's prophetic words that they both would be free in the new year.  Their brother also died as a result of afflictions from the war.  Corrie lived to be 91 years old, dying in California in 1983.  She spent the rest of her life traveling, speaking, and working with people who had been psychologically damaged by the war, including former Nazis.  Her message was the family motto, something that Betsy had encouraged her to always share: "Christ is victor."  In Israel there is a special garden planted with trees to honor the "righteous" men and women who valiantly worked to save the Jews during the Holocaust.  Three trees in that grove bear the names of Corrie, Betsy, and their father.