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Christian History Institute February 28, 1944 • Corrie Ten Boom Suffered More Than the Flu |
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 Corrie Ten Boom was imprisoned for helping Jews escape the Nazis.
 In wartime Holland, Corrie ten Boom and her family of watchmakers sheltered Jews in their small house-until Nazis discovered the The Hiding Place. and arrested them all.  |
Corrie woke on this morning, February 28, 1944 with the flu. For two days she had suffered with it. Every tiny sound shot through her throbbing head, making her miserable. She wanted to shout to everyone, "Get out." But she couldn't do that. The secret compartment in which she hid Jews opened through her room. For safety's sake, their bedding and belongings had to be stowed out of sight during the day. She would simply have to endure the jolting sounds which jabbed at her like daggers. She fell back to sleep. Betsie woke her, a cup of tea in hand. There was a man to see Corrie, she said. He claimed to be from the underground. Betsie had never seen him before. Corrie weakly struggled down the stairs, clinging to the rail so as not to fall. The caller made her uneasy. He would not meet her eyes. His wife had been arrested for hiding Jews, he said. He needed money to bribe the police for her release. Somehow Corrie wasn't sure about his story. But then, what if it was true? She arranged for the money and struggled back upstairs to bed. Through the fog of feverish sleep she seemed to hear a buzzer ringing. People rushed past her, bolting for the secret room. Corrie came awake. It was the emergency buzzer and this was no drill. Her family was betrayed! Leaping from bed, she slammed shut the sliding door behind the last of the Jews. Then with horror she saw her bag on the floor, the one with the addresses of her contacts. She opened the hidden door and flung that into the hiding place also. Desperately she shut the door again, hoping she was quicker than the Gestapo. She had just fallen back into bed when the secret police entered. Corrie and Betsy were interrogated by their captors. "Where are you hiding the Jews," they were asked? The two women refused to speak. The officers struck them in the face. When they saw that the family members would not speak, they led them from the house and took them to various prisons. In prison, the Lord helped Corrie and Betsy retain their witness for Him-- the witness which had made them protect Jews from the Nazis. In camps that crawled with fleas and were oppressed by evil, they led desperate souls to Christ and shared the fellowship of His sufferings. Through a clerical error, Corrie was released. The rest of the ten Booms died in prison or soon after. Corrie became a "tramp" for the Lord, spreading the gospel of forgiveness from sins to many nations. Her powerful testimony was made into the film The Hiding Place and reached millions with its call to live lives of courage and faith. Bibliography:
Last updated May, 2007. |
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