NETHERLANDS GUIDE

Discover Benelux | Top Art & Culture Spots in the Netherlands in 2019 | The Ultimate Destination
Corrie ten Boom showing the entrance to the tiny hiding place
– where six people hid for 47 hours before they were rescued.
Astonishing story of family that hid
Jews during WWII
TEXT: KOEN GUIKING | PHOTOS: CORRIE TEN BOOM HOUSE FOUNDATION
The extraordinary story of the Ten
Boom family, devoted Christians who
offered shelter to Jews and others in
need of protection during World War
II, now lives in an impressive museum
in Haarlem.
By opening up their home to those hunted
down by Germany’s Nazi regime, the
Ten Booms knowingly put their own lives
at risk. But they felt it as their duty to help
‘God’s chosen people’ and those who
were on their side.
The Ten Boom House, where father
Casper ten Boom and his daughters
Betsie and Corrie helped to save dozens
of lives during Nazi occupation, has been
a museum since 1988. When inside this
old building, guests can begin to imagine
what it must have been like to hide and
live here. The museum tells the story of
courageous peaceful resistance, incredible
selflessness and devotion, but also of
the immense dangers that were looming
outside. It vividly illustrates how the refugees
and family members in the house
prayed and sang together and how the
Ten Booms, whose clock and watchmaking
business was on the ground floor
of the house, would use code language
to converse with allies. They would, for
instance, request a certain part for a
watch that was just brought in, meaning
they actually needed help to find shelter
for yet another refugee.
Despite all the safety precautions, the
Ten Booms were eventually sold out to
the Nazi regime by a Dutchman who had
come to their home saying he needed
money to help a Jewish family. Corrie ten
Boom fell into the trap, offered to help
and asked the man to come back in
the evening. German secret police then
ransacked the house. This betrayal, as
well as the miraculous escape from death
of four men and two women whom Corrie
ten Boom hid in a secret hiding place
moments before she got arrested, have
been well documented. Corrie ten Boom
lived to tell the tale and her book The
Hiding Place has been translated into
over 60 languages. She has travelled
the world to spread the message that
‘God will give us love and forgive our
enemies’.
Unable to visit the museum?
Take the virtual tour on:
www.corrietenboom.com
60 | Issue 62 | February 2019