The Hiding Place

This is the Dutch Underground at its finest. The “why” people would risk their lives and resist the German persecution of the Jews came through loud and clear here.

Based on a true story, Corrie Ten Boom ran an underground cell out of her home in Harlem with the support of her family. Her religion sustained her through tremendous losses and suffering but enabled her to find peace for herself and others post-war.

Set in Holland during WWII, this autobiography gives an up close and personal look at life in a German concentration camp.

The vivid descriptions of the horrid living conditions and prevailing illnesses made me feel like I was there. Most memorable was the discussion of the flea-infested straw bedding and the notion of being thankful for the fleas. The author and her sister were devout Christians, but why be thankful for fleas? However, the guards left the women alone because of the fleas.

I will also always remember how the author was given a small bottle of liquid vitamin D… show more.

I will never forget this World War II story about Corrie Ten Boom and her sister who faced the Nazis and were sent to a concentration camp.

Like Anne Frank, the sisters bravely hid Jewish people in a closet above their father’s Dutch watch shop. What happened to them in the days and weeks that followed is the stuff of horror movies, but Corrie identified key moments when God showed up, leading her, comforting her, and teaching her.

Her quotes have never left me. “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still,” Corrie said. “The… show more.

This is the true story of Corrie ten Boom, a fiftyish Dutch lady who would have been happy repairing watches and serving people until she died at home. But the Nazis took over. She began working with the Resistance and ended up in Ravensbrück.

The Hiding Place portrays the horrors of the concentration camp frankly, but ten Boom and her co-authors take care to show the hand of God in Corrie’s life. I was deeply impressed by Corrie’s sister Betsie, who felt compassion for the Nazis because of their deep depravity. Corrie strove unsuccessfully to have the same attitude. Much… show more.

In this popular memoir, Corrie’s family is caught hiding Jews during the holocaust.

Reading about her family’s dedication to doing the right thing pressed on me and what I would do when facing prison or death for following my morals. Corrie’s love for her sister, who couldn’t help being honest, and the ladies’ desire to share the gospel with everyone they met is remarkable.

After reading this book, the Holy Spirit softened my heart for people of other beliefs to know the peace and hope of Jesus.

I have read many accounts of the Jewish and European atrocities which kept me interested and wanting a different outcome. As a historical fiction writer, I was so fascinated with the main character's innocence and then resolve to power by using her faith and her personal internal value to survive. Her story from a Christian point of view made me feel empowered to see that my personal faith and values can influence others even if only in a subtle way. This book is for everyone who wants to step back to a sad time and still see the good. My… show more.

This book made me cry. Corrie Ten Boom and her family hid Jews during the Nazi occupation of Holland. They were betrayed, and Corrie and her sister Betsy ended up in a concentration camp in filthy overcrowded barracks, filled with fleas and vermin.

And yet Corrie’s and Betsy’s faith kept them going. They’d smuggled a small Bible into the camp which the sisters used to help bring peace to other suffering women. Betsy died in a cruel infirmary, but Corrie survived to become an acclaimed evangelist.

Wow, wow, wow, oh how I love this book and have read it so many times. Corrie Ten Boom was an “old Maid” watch repairer in Holland in WW2. She and her family rescued so many Jews from the Holocaust, only for her to be captured and sent to a concentration camp. She lived only due to an error in the Nazi’s paperwork. She would later term herself as a “vagabond” for Jesus and minister all around the world. I love her so much. Her wisdom and Christian truths ooze out of her story and are life applicable. In her… show more.

The Ten Boom family has never turned away a person in need. But when the Nazis take control of their native Holland, it becomes illegal to aid Jews and other enemies of the state. This is a true story of courage and resistance in the face of oppression. It is a story of hatred and prejudice, but it is also one of sacrifice, of faith, and of joy in the darkest circumstances.

I both hate and love this story. It is hard to read because the author faced some of the most horrid things, but somehow, despite the darkness, I always close the book feeling deep down in my soul that God is good. Not only is He bigger than the dark, but He reaches down and touches the tiny lives of normal, regular people like me. Reading how he worked in Corrie’s life is like seeing a record of the fantastic touching reality, and when life throws challenges my way, I often remember the Ten Boom sisters and that not only… show more.