The Hiding Place

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Ten Boom died on her 91 st birthday—April 15, 1983. Her passing on this date evokes the Jewish traditional belief that states that only specially blessed people are granted the privilege of dying on the date they were born. Quotes While writing the Chalk Man she ran a dog-walking business, walking over twenty dogs a week as well as looking after her little girl. I’ve heard about Corrie Ten Boom for years, but I never had the courage to read her book for fear of the horrors I might find there—I’m the sort of person who can be haunted for days and even weeks if I encounter a particularly disturbing story. So, when I saw that there was a young readers’ edition of this book available, I was very glad to get the chance to read it.

However, reading this book in 2018 was quite disturbing, especially with reports of immigrant children being arrested and held in cages, and the continuing problems of racism, white nationalism, violence and war. Perhaps if I had read this book before Trump took office I wouldn't have been so upset by it. But that's the slyness about books — they'll surprise you, catch you at odd moments and show you connections you didn't expect. The ten Boom family members were separated and transferred to concentration camps. Corrie was allowed to stay with her precious sister, Betsy. Corrie's father (Casper), her sister (Betsy) and one grandchild (Kik) perished. Corrie was released in December of 1944. Cornelia Arnolda Johanna ten Boom was born on April 15, 1892, in Haarlem, Netherlands, near Amsterdam. Known as “Corrie” all her life, she was the youngest child, with two sisters, Betsie and Nollie, and one brother, Willem. Their father, Casper, was a jeweler and watchmaker. Cornelia was named after her mother. After having helped many people escape Holland and kept many hidden in the special room behind Corrie’s bedchamber, the ten Booms are found out and raided by the Nazis. Though the people in their ‘Hiding Place’ stay safe, she and her father and sister and a few others are taken away to a prison camp where most of the remainder of the story takes place. Soon afterward, Germany declares war against Holland, overcoming its army in five short days. The ten Booms then must adjust to life in an occupied city: Germany soldiers and tanks are everywhere, a curfew is set, groceries are bought with ration coupons, and the newspapers only carry Germany propaganda. More frightening, Allied bombings are often audible at night, sometimes breaking the windows. However, the most sinister aspect of the occupation is the growing persecution of Jews. Many shops stop serving Jews, and eventually they are forced to wear yellow stars on their clothes. Some families are taken away without warning. Corrie is horrified to see that many Dutch people don’t object to this injustice or even participate in it, joining the NSB (Dutch Nazi party), taking over the shops and residences of deported Jews.

She risked everything for the sake of others

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom was actually a very good book, much to my surprise. I expected it to be very boring, very depressing, and very preachy. At times it did drag a little - especially at the beginning - and it was sad, but it could be called preachy, and the hope won out in the end. It won out through much of the book, actually; I never felt truly depressed. I just knew God was there. Corrie and Betsie both showed their belief in this truth in the way they dealt with difficult situations.

Most of you will know the story; Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie are the unmarried daughters of Casper, a Christian watchmaker in Holland during the early 1900's. They could be running a successful and profitable business but, as Christians, are prone to charity and acts of kindness leaving them comfortable but not well-off. The scene is set by the author, Corrie, and a picture of a happy family life emerges. The everyday details and the author's humour are what make the book, indeed she is a marvellous story-teller and none of it is in any way monotonous. My mom got emotional about this book. I did not. Not much upsets me. But it was very emotional what with everything they had to go through and then how it all wrapped up. I can see how some people might cry when they read it. As a mother, I have always wondered how the Jewish people hid their children (crying babies etc.) from the Nazis when they were in hiding. I found it poignant and sad when the author noted that "even the youngest had developed the uncanny silence of small hunted things" (p. 114). Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.Corrie is interrogated several times by Lieutenant Rahms, a German army officer. Instead of giving him any information, Corrie speaks to him about the Bible, which seems to strike a chord in the officer. He tells her that he hates the work he does at the prison and only wants to go home to his family. At the same time, he feels that there’s no way to change conditions in the prison or alter the circumstances of his job. After some time, Lieutenant Rahms allows the whole family to convene at the prison, on the pretext of reading Father’s will. It’s the first time Corrie sees her family in months; by now, everyone has been released except her and Betsie. Willem tells her that all the Jews hiding in the Beje managed to escape, though police watched the house for several days. More disturbing than the rationing, curfews, identity cards, or confiscation of radios, however, were the measures that the German occupiers began to take against the Jews of Haarlem. For years, Corrie’s brother Willem had warned his family about the violent antisemitic ideology of Nazi Germany. Now it was happening on Dutch soil. Corrie would often accompany Casper on the train to business trips in Amsterdam. During one of these journeys with her father, young Corrie recalled asking him about “sexsin,” a word she had heard in a poem at school. Topics like sex were rarely discussed openly by families in early-20th century Europe—and certainly not in the conservative ten Boom household. After she asked this question, Casper asked Corrie to carry a box full of heavy watches across the train platform. She struggled and told her father that she couldn’t do it. He explained to her that just as there were physical burdens that were too heavy for her to bear, there were spiritual burdens that she could not carry on her own, so it was best to let God carry them for her. Even before the war, the family's charity and service was inspiring. During the war, their optimism, stalwartness, and charity was amazing. Corrie would trust her instincts as being directed by God, and sure enough they were protected from harm around every corner. When they were finally discovered, her amazing sister not only was filled with nothing but sympathy for the Nazis' hatred, but looked at every evil as opportunity: the more crammed the camp became the more women they had to teach the gospel, the dirtier the conditions the less intrusion from the guards, etc. I like to think I am optimistic, but I have my breaking point and then I'm irritable. The true test of our character comes under stressful times and their willingness to search for service in the trenches of hatred was heart warming.

Willem, a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church, brings a Jewish man, who has just escaped from Germany. This book is written from Corrie's point of view and is remarkable. Will leave you feeling encouraged and changed for the better. Like, no matter what circumstance you find yourself in, no matter how dark, how impossible, how complex or evil God is always with you. It shows how we can find things to be grateful for even when on the surface they are not good. The Hiding Place is a 1971 book on the life of Corrie ten Boom, written by herself and John and Elizabeth Sherrill. Stealing, lying, murder. Was this what God wanted in times like these? How should a Christian act when evil was in power?" -pg. 71 This a complex, multilayered story with an unreliable narrator that peaked my curiosity from sentence one until the final period of the epilogue.

This book can teach you so much … about history, about people, and most of all, about God. It’s really an incredible work - and the fact that it’s a true story makes it even more impressive. At the party, guests talked about Adolf Hitler, the growing threat of Nazi Germany, and their fears of another European general war. Willem, a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church, was taking in Jewish refugees from Germany. One of these refugees, a man named Gutlieber, was at the party. Willem told the guests that Gutlieber was forced to flee Munich after a violent assault at the hands of Hitler Youth members, during which they attempted to set his beard on fire. This is one of those books that you cover your eyes with your hand while still looking through the space between your fingers, saying no, no, no, not that. It can't be THAT!