In gratitude to the Airborne & Allies no longer a hiding place…
During 1943 and into 1944, there were usually as many as seven people illegally living in the ten Boom home in Holland with Jews and members of the Dutch underground.
Additional refugees would stay with the ten Booms for a few hours or a few days until another “safe house” could be located for them.
Corrie became a ringleader within the network of the Haarlem, Holland underground. Corrie and “the Beje group” would search for courageous Dutch families who would take in refugees, and much of Corrie’s time was spent caring for these people once they were in hiding. Through these activities, the ten Boom family and their many friends saved the lives of an estimated 800 Jews, and protected many Dutch underground workers.
On February 28, 1944, Casper’s family was betrayed, and the Gestapo (the Nazi secret police) raided their home. The Gestapo set a trap and waited throughout the day, seizing everyone who came to the house. By evening, over 20 people had been taken into custody! Casper, Corrie, and Betsie were all arrested. Corrie’s brother Willem, sister Nollie, and nephew Peter were at the house that day, and were also taken to prison.
Although the Gestapo systematically searched the house, they could not find the two Jewish men, two Jewish women, and two members of the Dutch underground who were safely hidden behind a false wall in Corrie’s bedroom. Although the house remained under guard, the Resistance was able to liberate the refugees two days later. The six people had managed to stay quiet in their small, dark hiding place, even though they had no water and very little food. The four Jews were taken to new “safe houses,” and three survived the war.
Four ten Booms gave their lives for this family’s commitment, but Corrie came home from the death camp. “God does not have problems. Only plans,” proclaimed Corrie ten Boom when a clerical error allowed her to be released from a Nazi concentration camp one week before all women prisoners her age were executed. She realized her life was a gift from God, and she needed to share what she and Betsie had learned in Ravensbruck. At age 53, Corrie began a worldwide ministry that took her into more than 60 countries in the next 32 years! Following the war, Corrie Ten Boom was honored by the Queen of Holland as a War Hero. In the early 1970’s, Corrie’s book The Hiding Place became a best seller, and became a major motion picture “The Hiding Place.” Corrie died on her 91st birthday, April 15,1983. But her memory will live on forever.
Dad would comment after his war years as a 101st Airborne paratrooper in Holland during 1944 that the Dutch were among the bravest people he ever encountered leaving a lasting impression with him. I too would be affected by the same impression by watching The Hiding Place movie 31 years later in 1975.
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Photo Source: Orange is the Color of the Day shows Dutch girls gathered around Airborne paratroopers. As they saw American paratroopers dropping from the sky they knew the liberation of Holland would soon follow. They were especially intrigued by the paratrooper’s rubber soled boots allowing them to walk silently through their villages whereas the Germans wore intimidating metal cleats creating a deafening and intimidating sound…
