An old man was arrested and dragged out of his happy home by the Gestapo in February 1944. The officer in charge told him that if he behaved himself, he would be back home soon and able to die in his own bed.
Hearing this, 84-year-old Casper ten Boom straightened up, looked the officer square in the eye and avowed, ““I will [always] open my door to anyone who knocks for help.”
It wasn't a question of if he should do it; the elder ten Boom and his family couldn't conceive of not helping those in need. They believed and lived the words of Christ as stated in Matthew 25:
“35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Casper’s father, Willem had started a weekly prayer service in 1844 to pray for the Jewish people and the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6.) The family and their friends had gathered and prayed every week for 100 years by the time of their arrest.
Their belief would cost them plenty, but they wouldn't have had it any other way.
The ten Booms’ first stop was Scheveningen prison, where guards separated them from one another. Corrie shared her cell with three other women. Already sick, she became very ill and guards took her to the prison hospital.
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| One of the ovens at Ravensbrück |
The doctor told the police that she needed to stay, but they took her back, this time to a solitary cell. Before leaving the hospital, however, a nurse slipped Corrie a small package that contained a toothbrush, soap and a booklet of the four Gospels.
Corrie worried about her family. It was impossible to learn anything about them since no one spoke to her. One day there were no guards present, the jailers having gone to a party in honor of Hitler’s birthday.
Able to talk freely, Corrie found out her father Casper died ten days after arriving at the prison. Heartbroken but faithful, she wrote on her prison wall, “Father released.”
Sister Nollie, brother Willem and nephew Peter were free. Only she and Betsie were still there. Swoon Ministries reports of their existence: “There was no bed….just a dirty straw mattress with only one blanket, which someone had been sick on. The cell was bitterly cold. The only food was a plate of thin porridge each morning and one piece of black bread in the evening.”
While there, Nollie got word to Corrie that the refugees in the hiding place were safe. Next Corrie faced a hearing with a Gestapo officer. Fearful, she prayed, “Lord Jesus you were once questioned too. Please show me what to do.”
During the next several days of interrogation Corrie kept her composure and the officer even questioned her quite a bit about Jesus and the love of God. The man sincerely wanted to know more.
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Used at Ravensbrück: As punishment, women had to pull
this roller until they died.
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In those lonely days of confinement she found a friend in an ant that crawled in through a crack in the floor and she shared her crumbs with the little fellow. Corrie reread the gospels over and over. Soon she saw Jesus’ suffering in a whole new light. She realized that her own suffering might have a purpose for good too.
The next leg of the cruel journey took them in June 1944 to Vught Concentration Camp in southern Holland. When boarding the train Corrie saw Betsie and went to her. They were never apart again.
At Vught, the captives lived in barracks. Life was hard and punishments severe. Soon a rumor spread through camp that the Allies had invaded Europe and were heading in their direction. This gave them great hope.
Those hopes were dashed one day as guards executed 700 male prisoners and the women were herded onto trains. The Allies were getting close and in response the Nazis rounded up the prisoners, sending them to Ravensbruk Concentration Camp in Germany.
This was the only major Nazi concentration camp for women. Jewish Gen describes the horrific conditions: “Life there was as shameful and difficult as in all the other concentration camps — death by starvation, beating, torture, hanging, and shooting happened daily.”
For Corrie, Betsie and the rest of the so-called “criminals,” the worst was yet to come. But the worst couldn’t steal the hope of the two sisters.
They aimed to comfort those around them as it says in the book of John: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” ~ John 1:5
The ten Boom family, l to r: Nollie Corriee, Casper, Cornelia, Willem, Betsie
Photo: ten Boom Museum
Christians who saved Jews from the Nazis
While Jews and Christians celebrate one of the most holy weeks of the year the story of Corrie ten Boom and her family is worth hearing.
It started in 1844. Willem ten Boom was a clockmaker in Haarlem, Holland and a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. Already a proponent to improve Judeo-Christian relations, he was inspired to found a weekly group whose sole purpose was to pray for Jews and for the peace of Jerusalem, an unusual idea among Christians at the time.
His son Casper continued the prayer group with his own family. He and his wife Cornelia had four children: Betsie, Willem, Nollie and Corrie. The young family moved to the clock shop in the early 1890’s.
Friends, family, love and laughter filled the apartment above the store. Known for their generosity and compassion, the ten Booms always opened their door to those in need.
Then in May 1940, the destruction of Rotterdam led to the surrender of Dutch forces to the Nazis. The ten Booms witnessed the harassment and indignities against their Jewish neighbors and were appalled. The Dutch Reformed Church protested the persecution as they believed the injustice was an affront to divine authority.
The ten Boom home that hide Jews
Photo: Grace Fox
Soon Jews had to wear a yellow star on their clothes that made them easy prey. Casper ten Boom - 80 years old now - insisted on wearing one too. He said that if everyone wore a star, then the Nazis wouldn’t know who was Jewish and who was not.
The family fought back through the Dutch Resistance. They also began to hide Jews, slave labor camp escapees and members of the Underground. When told his actions could cost him his life, Casper answered simply, “’It would be an honor to give my life for God’s chosen people.’”
To hide people, the home would have to appear as if only the family lived there. A false wall was built into Corrie’s bedroom that included a closet. It had a trap door where the refugees could enter the tiny eight foot by two foot space.
Guests didn’t have to stay in the cramped quarters all the time. But if the Gestapo came each person had a job to do. They held practice drills regularly in an effort to cut down on the time it took to get the refugees to safety and the apartment to appear as if all were normal.
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| Actual hiding place in Corrie ten Boom's room |
Middle-aged now, Corrie was the ringleader of the Haarlem Underground. With the generous help of others, she had a steady supply of food ration cards and a hard working team that believed in their mission.
Resistance fighters, young men and at least 800 Jews escaped certain slavery, torture and death because these brave souls did what was right even under threat of death.
In spite of the darkness that blanketed Holland, faith, love and laughter continued in the ten Boom household. Jews and Christians became one family of faith that gathered to study, talk, sing, and encourage each other. They worshiped in mutual love and respect that became a light.
Some Dutch citizens, collaborators, sided with the Nazis. Secure jobs, extra food rations and assurance of families safe enticed these traitors. This was a thorn in the side of the ten Booms because it was hard to tell who could be trusted and who could not.
That’s what tripped them up; a collaborator found out their secret. On February 28, 1944 the Gestapo paid a visit to the happy home above the clock shop and arrested the entire household including 84-year-old Casper.
Four Jews and two Underground members made it to the hiding place and waited. The room had air vents to provide fresh air and there was a pot in the corner for waste.
One of several web sites dedicated to Corrie, www.corrietenboom.com describes the scene: “Although the house remained under guard, the Resistance was able to liberate the refugees 47 hours later. The six people had managed to stay quiet in their cramped, dark hiding place for all that time, even though they had no water and very little food.”
Though tortured, not one of the ten Booms gave up their refugees. Dutch Underground materials and extra ration cards found in their home meant imprisonment in a concentration camp.
While dragging the old man from his home during the arrest, a German officer told the elder ten Boom that he could die in his own bed if he promised to behave himself. Casper ten Boom looked him square in the eye and replied, “I will [always] open my door to anyone who knocks for help.”
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