Corrie ten Boom

After the Nazis invaded Holland, Corrie ten Boom hid more than 700 Jews in her home, six at a time, before helping them escape. On this episode of 5 Minutes in Church History, Dr. Stephen Nichols tells the story of this remarkable Christian woman.

Welcome back to another episode of 5 Minutes in Church History. On this episode, we are spending time with Corrie ten Boom. She was born in 1892; she died in 1983. She's most well-known for the book she published in 1971, The Hiding Place. Corrie grew up in Holland. Her father was a watchmaker, her mother died, and her brother married and of course, moved out of the house; but Corrie and her sister stayed with the father. She learned her father's trade and Corrie became a watchmaker. In fact, she was Holland's first licensed female watchmaker.

The family were all members of the Dutch Reformed church, and they were not only committed to their church, they were also committed to serving and being charitable in their town and in their neighborhood. But all of their lives changed significantly on May 10, 1940—the Nazis invaded Holland. Corrie and her family became part of the resistance movement, the underground movement, and they sheltered Jews and they helped them escape.

During the Nazi occupation of Holland, over 700 to 800 Jews passed through the Boom house. They built a secret room behind one of the walls in Corrie's bedroom. It was called 'the hiding place.' This lasted from that beginning of the occupation until February 1944. Corrie and her family were all arrested. They were turned in by a Nazi collaborator by an informant. When they were arrested, there were six in the hiding place. That's how many the hiding place held, and it was full.

Well, even though they were arrested and taken out of the house, the six were never detected, and eventually they were able to get out of the hiding place and to make it to the next stop and to get out and to not be detained, or not be arrested. Friends of Corrie slipped her a note while she was in prison, and the note was a code, and it said, "All of the watches in your cabinet are safe." That informed her that the six indeed made it to safety.

Well, shortly after they were arrested—in fact, just 10 days after they were arrested—her father, who was in poor health at the time, died. And a few months later, her sister died, leaving Corrie alone. In this time and in this imprisonment, she spent most of her time at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. It was a terrible, utterly terrible experience. Many died. Many, many were killed. All were constantly worked and all were fed little. Corrie survived her time in concentration camp.

After the war, she devoted her life to caring for former prisoners of war, to help them in their rehabilitation and to help them build a new life. She also traveled and she spoke of her experiences, her experiences in the resistance movement and her experiences of her Nazi imprisonment. She put all these experiences into a book published in 1971, The Hiding Place. It was turned into a major motion picture in 1975. Corrie moved to the United States in 1978. She would travel and speak, but shortly after she arrived in the U.S., she suffered strokes and she died in 1983. She was 91 years old.

Corrie ten Boom once said, "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom was incredibly talented. First, as a watchmaker; second, as a key figure and the resistance movement; and thirdly, as a writer. She enjoyed a loving family and she, alongside of them, suffered greatly, and she watched them suffer. She ultimately loved God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength, and throughout her whole life. And she loved God by loving others, giving of herself to others, no matter what the cost.

That is the remarkable life of Corrie ten Boom, and I'm Steve Nichols, and thanks for joining us for 5 Minutes in Church History. If you are enjoying this podcast, you'll want to check out the other podcasts of Ligonier Ministries. Of course, I'm a fan of Ultimately featuring the teaching of R.C. Sproul, and also of the podcast Simply Put by Barry Cooper. Look for these and the other podcasts produced by Ligonier Ministries. Thank you.