The Willow Springs Tuesday Study Club met on March 5 at the Willow Springs Senior Center for a regular business meeting. Kathleen Carel and Pauline Cape were hostesses for the day. Following a brief business meeting, Pauline gave a beautiful presentation about an unsung heroine, which follows:
I’m going to be talking about a woman by the name of Cornelia Arnolda Johanna Ten Boom, Corrie Ten Boom by those who know of her. She was born April 15, 1892 in Haarlem, the Netherlands. She was the youngest child of Casper Ten Boom, a jeweler and watchmaker, and wife Cornelia. She was named after her mother, but went by Corrie all of her life.
The family lived above Casper’s workshop. Corrie spent the first part of her life in charge of the housekeeping. When her sister, Betsie, became ill for an extended time, Corrie took her place working in the family watch shop. To the delight of both Corrie and Betsie, when Betsie recovered, Corrie kept her place in the shop and Betsie managed the housework.
Corrie trained as a watchmaker and became the first woman to be licensed as a watchmaker in the Netherlands.
In addition to working in her father’s shop, Corrie established a youth club for teenage girls. The club provided religious instruction and classes in the performing arts, sewing and handicrafts. Her family was Calvinist Christian, and their faith inspired them to serve their society by offering shelter, food and money to those in need. One important tenet of their faith included the fact that the Jews were precious to God, a powerful motivation to the selfless rescue work in which Corrie would later become involved.
In May 1940, the Germans invaded the Netherlands. One of the Germans’ instructions was the banning of the youth club. In 1942, the Ten Booms started helping their Jewish neighbors which led them to agree that a woman could stay with them, although the police headquarters was only half of a block away.
Corrie and Betsie opened their home to more Jewish refugees. Their refugee work became known to the Dutch resistance, which sent an architect to the Ten Boom home to build a secret room in which the Jews could hide. The secret room was in Corrie’s bedroom behind a false wall. It held six people. A buzzer was installed so the refugees could get into the room during security sweeps through the neighborhood.
The Ten Booms’ involvement in the Dutch resistance grew beyond gathering stolen ration cards and harboring Jews in their home to helping the Dutch underground resistance network of smuggling Jews to safe places. It is estimated that around 800 Jews were saved by the Ten Booms’ efforts.
On Feb. 28, 1944, a Dutch informant, Jan Vogel, told the Nazis about the Ten Booms’ work. The Nazis arrested the entire Ten Boom family. Corrie, Betsie and their father, Casper, were held in prison. Casper died 10 days later.
Corrie and Betsie ended up in Ravensbrûck concentration camp, a women’s labor camp. They held worship services after the hard days at work. Through their teaching and examples of unfailing charity, many prisoners converted to Christianity.
Betsie’s health deteriorated, and she died Dec. 16, 1944. She told Corrie before she died, “There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.” Twelve days later, Corrie was released. She was told afterwards that her release was because of a clerical error, and that a week later, all of the women in her age group were sent to the gas chambers.
Corrie returned to the Netherlands. She helped many refugee survivors until 1950. She went on to travel the world as a public speaker. During this period, she wrote many books. One book, “Tramp for the Lord,” tells a different story in each chapter about her world travels sharing the Gospel message, also her message of forgiveness, hope, love and salvation through the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Her best-selling book, “The Hiding Place” was made into a movie.
At 85, Corrie immigrated to Placentia, California. She died on her 91st birthday, April 15, 1983.
