Corrie Ten Boom

Do you know who Corrie Ten Boom was? Well, Corrie Ten Boom was a brave, faithful, and caring person. She was always ready to take charge and help who she could. She believed that all people should be forgiven. During World War 2, she saved so many lives. 

Corrie Ten Boom was just an ordinary woman living in Holland in the 1930’s. She shared a home with her father, Casper and sister, Betsie. Corrie's family owned a watch shop in a building called the Beje (bay yay). Their apartment was located above the shop, which later played a very important role in the life saving of tons.

In 1940, the Germans invaded Holland, the country fought hard but had to surrender. In May 1942 a Jewish woman came to the beje seeking help. She claimed that her husband had been arrested a few months before, and her son was in hiding. She told the Ten Booms that she was afraid to go back home because occupation officers had visited her house before. She came to the Ten Booms because she heard they had helped their Jewish neighbor.

Corrie and Betsie then opened their home to Jews seeking refuge. Their operation came to be known by the Dutch resistance, who built a fake wall behind the shelf, and an alarm buzzer to warn the Jews to take cover if the Germans came. There was enough room in the hiding place to fit 6 people and a ventilation system so that they had enough air.

Another issue was food. Food was scarce during the war, all non-Jewish Dutch people got food ration cards (the necessaries to get food). Corrie then thought about a family she knew, the husband was working at a ration card office. He asked her how much she needed, and she replied “100”. When she got them, she gave them to every Jew in need.

As the Dutch underground began to grow, Corrie’s efforts saved around 800 Jews. The underground also had its own code. If someone said “a watch with a difficult face” it meant a Jew with an appearance that was hard to hide. ‘’ A child’s watch is un-repairable,’’ Meaning a Jewish child had passed away. Most of the people in the resistance had code names, usually all of them would have the same last name. They would normally only address each other by their last name.

One day a Dutch man stopped by and asked to see Corrie. She had been infected with influenza and had trouble walking. He asked Corrie about her “secret organization”.  Corrie claimed that she didn't know what he was talking about, but he kept pleading with her. She decided to invite him over, in the next few hours. Corrie was still feeling sick, so she went to bed. In her dream, she kept hearing sirens blaring in her head. She realized that it was not a dream, and all the Jews were rushing to get into the hiding place. The man (Jan Vogel) had told the Nazis about the Ten Booms operation. The Nazis stormed into her room and demanded to know what she was hiding. At around 12:30 p.m., Corrie, Casper, and Betsie got arrested. Ten days later Casper passed away, and Corrie was put in solitary confinement.

One day in prison, Corrie received a mysterious letter. It said “all the watches in your cabinet are safe”. Corrie was very happy because it meant that the Jews she was hiding were all alive. Betsie and Corrie kept on moving to different camps until they came to Ravensbrück concentration camp, a terrible place with nothing but broken dreams and fleas. That still didn't stop Corrie and Betsie from giving up, Betsie would say to Corrie “ thank God for everything, even the fleas”. Corrie wasn't so sure about that, but the fleas did in fact help. Every night when Corrie and Betsie read aloud the Bible to their bunkmates, no guards would come in. Turns out they were afraid of the fleas.

After some time, Betsie grew very tired and sick. She was put in the hospital wing, and shortly after that, she passed away. Before she died, Betsie told Corrie that one day, she would live in a big house with a huge garden. Corrie was not so sure about that. Twelve days after Betsie’s death, Corrie was released.

After the war, Corrie started to create a rehabilitation center for survivors of the war. It was located in a big house with a garden, just like the one in Betsie’s vision. Some people came there with trauma and painful memories from the war, and Corrie would help them forget. Corrie wrote a book about her story, and she went to more than 60 countries around the world, to share her story.