The Hiding Place
Book Review: The Hiding Place
The book The Hiding Place was about Corrie ten Boom’s life that took place in 1937 within the shadow of World War II and the rise of Nazism, which also happen to be the 100th anniversary of the founding of ten Boom watch shop. The ten Boom family was a highly respected one known for their deep religious faith and good will towards anyone who might need their help. However, the Dutch people believed that just as in World War I, their neutrality would be honored. Unfortunately, they greatly miscalculated the outcome and had to suffer through tough times.
Corrie grew up in an old Dutch house where she was born which was the main setting for the book, which they will build a secret room that would hide Jews and political prisoners fleeing Nazi persecution. In the first few chapters in the book she begins to reminisce about her childhood life and the people in the community of Haarlem who valued her family with different personalities and attitudes towards life before the war that were great examples to Corrie.
Corrie, her father, and her sister, Betsie, eventually had to face the Nazi invasion of Holland and became a part of the Resistance Movement. They provided a place for people who were fleeing the Nazis to live and a secret room for them to hide, in case the house was ever raided. During this time, Corrie often had doubts about whether her mission was wrong, but she always found her way back to the truth by relying on God. They practiced daily for the raid and continued to pray that it never happened. Unfortunately, that day did arrive as the result of a man who Corrie later learned was named Jan Vogel and was a Dutchman who collaborated with the Germans. The Jews hiding in the secret room were saved, but Corrie, her father, and Betsie were taken into custody. Father died ten days after his arrest and was buried in a pauper’s grave while Corrie and Betsie found themselves imprisoned first in Scheveningen Prison, a Dutch federal
The book The Hiding Place was about Corrie ten Boom’s life that took place in 1937 within the shadow of World War II and the rise of Nazism, which also happen to be the 100th anniversary of the founding of ten Boom watch shop. The ten Boom family was a highly respected one known for their deep religious faith and good will towards anyone who might need their help. However, the Dutch people believed that just as in World War I, their neutrality would be honored. Unfortunately, they greatly miscalculated the outcome and had to suffer through tough times.
Corrie grew up in an old Dutch house where she was born which was the main setting for the book, which they will build a secret room that would hide Jews and political prisoners fleeing Nazi persecution. In the first few chapters in the book she begins to reminisce about her childhood life and the people in the community of Haarlem who valued her family with different personalities and attitudes towards life before the war that were great examples to Corrie.
Corrie, her father, and her sister, Betsie, eventually had to face the Nazi invasion of Holland and became a part of the Resistance Movement. They provided a place for people who were fleeing the Nazis to live and a secret room for them to hide, in case the house was ever raided. During this time, Corrie often had doubts about whether her mission was wrong, but she always found her way back to the truth by relying on God. They practiced daily for the raid and continued to pray that it never happened. Unfortunately, that day did arrive as the result of a man who Corrie later learned was named Jan Vogel and was a Dutchman who collaborated with the Germans. The Jews hiding in the secret room were saved, but Corrie, her father, and Betsie were taken into custody. Father died ten days after his arrest and was buried in a pauper’s grave while Corrie and Betsie found themselves imprisoned first in Scheveningen Prison, a Dutch federal
Citations: 1. Boom, Corrie, John Sherrill, and Elizabeth Sherrill. The Hiding Place. NY: Guideposts Associates, 1971. Print 2. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “The Holocaust.” Holocaust Encyclopedia.http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/?ModuleId=10005143. Accessed on 19 April 2012