The Story of Corrie ten Boom

   Corrie ten Boom’s family had always opened their home to anyone in need. And when World War II broke out, they opened their home to the Jews.
   The daughter of a watchmaker, and a licensed watchmaker herself, Corrie was in her fifties when WWII came to Holland. She was a single woman living with her father and older sister.
   When Jews fleeing Hitler’s wrath came to them, they welcomed them in. Corrie and her family were involved in secret “underground” work and a secret room in Corrie’s bedroom was made to be a hiding place for the Jews and underground workers. They knew at any time they could be arrested for their work, yet they kept on. And, eventually, they were arrested.
   Corrie and some of her family were taken to a local jail where her father died, his body laid in an unmarked grave. And then she and her sister Betsie were taken to a concentration camp. Vught, it was called. There, they saw the cruelty of the Nazis and learned who it was who had betrayed them.
   At first, Corrie burned with anger for the man who had torn their family apart. But she watched Betsie show only love and forgiveness toward their betrayer and toward the Nazis, and she realized that was what God was asking of her, too.
   Then, they were taken to Germany, to Ravensbruck, the notorious women’s extermination camp. Far worse than the previous camp, only the concrete walls of the camp stretched before them. No grass, flowers, or trees. The place crawled with lice and fleas, but far worse was the misery and suffering of human beings; the sound of blows falling and voices screaming from the punishment barracks, the starvation and sickness. But even there, Corrie and Betsie saw God’s hand at work in the guards not taking their Bible, a bottle of vitamin drops miraculously preserved, and many other examples of God’s provision. The light of Christ was shining even in such a dark place as Ravensbruck.
   But Betsie grew more and more ill. And then she died. Corrie was devastated, yet she knew where her sister was—with Jesus.
   Then, at long last, Corrie was released, and the war finally came to an end. She made her way back to Holland and was reunited with her family, but it wasn’t the same without her father and Betsie. Later, she learned that her release had been a “mistake” and a week after she left, all the other women her age in the camp had been killed. Corrie knew, though, that it wasn’t a mistake. God had a job for her to do. Before she died, Betsie had said, “We must tell people, Corrie. We must tell them what we learned…”
   Believing God would give her the courage and the words to say, Corrie began speaking, sharing the truth of Jesus Christ, bringing a message of hope and forgiveness. She travelled all over the world with God’s message, travelling well into her eighties, before spending her final years in a home provided by friends in Orange County, California.
   She died at ninety-one years of age on April 15, 1983.

Sources:

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom with John and Elizabeth Sherrill 

Tramp for the Lord by Corrie ten Boom with Jamie Buckingham