Corrie ten Boom

When Finding Courage Takes All the Faith You’ve Got

By Lisa Elliott

What does courageous faith look like? As we read up on the life and times of Corrie ten Boom, we find out. Her story came to light in the darkest of circumstances.

Corrie ten Boom was born into a strong family of faith April 15, 1892. She was living a quiet life as the first Dutch woman watchmaker in Amsterdam, The Netherlands until events she could never imagine turned her world and the country she loved upside down.

In May of 1940, during World War II, the Germans invaded her country. Suddenly, all around the ten Boom family Jewish neighbors and friends were mistreated, persecuted, and targeted for genocide.

Going against everything society dictated and words of disapproval from their pastor, the ten Boom family was convinced God was calling them to do something. So, they built a secret room inside the wall of Corrie’s bedroom— a “hiding place.” Over the next four years, they hid over 800 Jews until February 28, 1944, when one of their own, a Dutch informant, turned them over to the Nazis. That afternoon, Gestapo broke into their home and the entire ten Boom family was arrested.

Shortly after their imprisonment all but Corrie, her older sister Betsie, and her father Casper were released. Casper died days after his imprisonment and within weeks, Corrie and her sister were deported to a concentration camp in Ravensbruck, Germany.

They were stripped naked upon their arrival and afterward retained in inhumane living quarters where they endured unspeakable treatment and forced labor at the hands of evil guards. Corrie and Betsie were mercifully able to stay together amongst an estimated 35,000 women. Corrie was known as prisoner 66730.