Corrie Ten Boom – protector of Jews, 1942 – 1944

“Thou art my hiding place and my shield…” – Psalm 119:114.

Corrie ten Boom (image in the public domain)

There has been shocking news coming from Holland in past weeks. Some Dutch police are now ambiguous about protecting Jewish targets or events. Marcel de Weerd and Michel Theeboom, representing the Jewish Police Network, expressed concerns over changes they were seeing in the force.

“There are colleagues who no longer want to protect Jewish targets or events. They talk about ‘moral dilemmas,’ and I see a tendency emerging to give in to that. That would truly mark the beginning of the end….” Theeboom said.

Sources: Jerusalem Post, October 4, 2024

Holland wasn’t always like this. During WW2, among the 45,000 active Dutch resistance fighters – some brave souls protected and hid Jews from the Nazis. Among this committed, valiant cohort were Corrie ten Boom, her siblings and elderly father.

Corrie trained to be a watchmaker, and in 1922, became the first woman to be licensed as a watchmaker in the Netherlands, joining her father’s watch shop in Harlaam. During the Nazi invasion and occupation, working there gave her opportunities to engage with the resistance fighters, who visited the premises to get their watches “attended to.” Corrie also became part of the Dutch underground resistance network and oversaw a network of smuggling Jews to safe places.

In 1942, Corrie and family, obedient Dutch Reformed Christians, joined the Dutch resistance and hid Jewish adults and teenagers. Their “hiding placer” was behind a brick wall built through her bedroom. Over time, Corrie suffered a moral crisis over her lying, theft, forgery bribery – necessary to keep the hidden Jews safe and fed.
The Ten Boom family not only hid Jewish people – but honored their distinct culture and faith. The entire Ten Boom household kept Sabbath and celebrated Hanukkah. They prepared kosher food as long as possible. The family never sought to convert any of the Jews who stayed with them.

On 28 February 1944, a Dutch informant, Jan Vogel, told the Nazis about the Ten Booms’ work; at around 12:30 p.m. of that day, the Nazis arrested the entire Ten Boom family. However, four Jews and two Dutch underground workers remained undiscovered in the “hiding place” for 47 hours after the raid, until finally rescued by friends.

Her 88-year-old father died in a prison ten days after arrest. Corrie and her sister, Betsie, eventually ended up in Ravensbrück. Betsie died there on 16 December 1944, aged 59. Soon after, in late December 1944, Corrie got miraculously released from prison because of a clerical error. A week after her release, all the female prisoners from her age group got killed.

In1967, Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, recognized Karina Arnalda Joanna Corrie Ten Boom as ‘righteous among the nations’. Around 800 Jews got saved in WW2 Holland by Ten Boom’s efforts.
Corrie Ten Boom died aged 91, on April 15th, 1983… the same calendar date as her birth, April of 15th. According to Jewish custom, celebrating the same day for birth and death is the unique sign of a very special individual.

Article Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrie_ten_Boom

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“Don’t bother to give God instructions, just report for duty.”
– Corrie ten Boom
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