Corrie Ten Boom
By Patricia M. Ferreira
Few have heard of it. He is not someone "famous." However, his story deserves to be known because it played a particularly important role in saving Jews and others during the Nazi occupation of Holland, at the time of the Second World War.
Corrie's grandfather, Willem, had set a watch in 1837, the building located at number 19 of Barteljorisstraat in Haarlem, the Netherlands, the city where she was born. On the ground low, on the street, worked the shop and the family lived upstairs.
The business was inherited later by Casper, son of Willem, and finally by Corrie, who thus became the first woman watchmaker in Holland.
But not only was a pioneer in these arts. Perhaps it was also the first woman who led a resistance movement against the Nazis in their country.
The "Idea" saving
At 48 years of age, and to witness what happened in Holland under the Nazi regime, especially the relentless persecution of the Jews, he decided he should do something about it. It occurred to him then the way to assist them, finding immediate support from his father and his brothers. So could "resist" the Nazis but "their" way, not through violence, in full accordance with his principles and his Christian faith.
What was the idea of \u200b\u200bCorrie? That
family housing began to be used as a refuge. About six or seven people could hide there. In practice, usually four of them were Jewish and the other members of the Dutch resistance. In some cases, were only a few hours, as a place of waiting and transit to other safe places, in others stayed for months until they could leave. But Once the idea was launched, the movement of persecuted human beings became permanent.
Refuge on the second floor of the building on Corrie's own room, we built a cache, whose entrance was concealed by a cabinet, consisting of an area of \u200b\u200babout 2.5 m. long by 0.70 m wide. Could accommodate a maximum of six people simultaneously, they should stand and not moving.
Every time the alarm sounded (a little bell hidden by the stairs), people available for just over a minute to hide on that site, bringing their belongings. There he remained until the danger passed in absolute silence and complete immobility.
The watch was a perfect "front" for these activities, since it was not flashy or suspect that as in any other business, people enter and leave constantly.
That's how little by little, Corrie was found in front of a network of some eighty people, the group "Beje" (that was the trade name of the watch), which sought other homes in risky and courageous Dutch might give asylum to people like she did. Most of their time invested in caring for refugees, once they found shelter.
is estimated that this way saved the lives of some 800 Jews, and numerous members of the Dutch resistance and students who were persecuted because they refused to collaborate with the Nazis.
Betrayal But something happened suddenly and activities had to be halted.
One day a man entered the business of the ten Boom Corrie and told that he and his wife were Jewish and needed money to bribe a policeman. She said she could get.
That man was who on February 28, 1944 the betrayed to the Gestapo (Nazi secret police). His agents waited all day, watching the clock, and arrested every single person who was about to enter. By nightfall, they had captured about thirty prisoners.
then raided the house where Corrie was arrested, his father Casper, her brother Willem, Nollie and Betsie and his nephew Peter, and taken to the Scheveningen prison.
Although the Gestapo suspected that there were people hiding somewhere and carefully reviewed the entire building, were unable to find shelter, where at that time there were four Jews (two men and two women) and two members of the resistance. Although the house remained under surveillance, all were rescued by other members of the network of Corrie. During the 47 hours passed until were released, they managed to stay still and silent, almost without food and water. The four Jews were taken to another shelter and three of them survived the war. With respect to the two resistance fighters, one died shortly after and the other survived.
The fate of the Ten Boom
already in prison when Casper was informed that he could be sentenced to death to save Jews, said: "It would be an honor to give my life for God's chosen people." And in a way it was, as he died on the tenth day of his arrest, at 84 years of age.
Corrie and her sister Betsie were in three different prisons Over the next ten months after his arrest, until they were sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp near Berlin, Germany.
Betsie, 59, died shortly after arriving there, could not endure the hardships she was subjected.
's brother, Willem, 60, whose "crime" had been collaborating with the resistance, he contracted tuberculosis while in prison and died shortly after the war ended.
Another Corrie nephews, Christian, 24, was taken to Bergen Belsen camp also accused of being part of the resistance, and was never heard from again. So
four ten Boom family gave their lives against the commitment they had made to save other human beings.
Corrie's fate
But Corrie again.
In late 1944, almost by miracle, his name was included on a list of persons to regain freedom. He returned to Holland and was able to recover from health problems incurred during the time he was imprisoned. Spent at home in Haarlem last winter of the war, but remained inactive. As she said: "God gave us love to be able to forgive our enemies." Corrie
spared. Spared the loss of their loved ones and their own suffering, those that were inflicted at the time of their stay in the camp. And went further. One day in 1947 in Munich, a man wanted to say hello and tried to shake his hand. Seeing his face, he immediately recognized as one of the cruelest guards at Ravensbrück, one of many to which he had to parade naked along with her sister Betsie when, according to special criteria imposed by the Nazis, they selected people it was still useful for the work of those who were not.
How could shake hands with this man?.
He said he had converted to Christianity after the war and believed that God had forgiven him for all the evils committed in the concentration camp, but he needed that she personally told him that she forgave him. Corrie did it and shook his hand.
And evidently had much love to give, founded a nursing home in Bloemendal, for the healing and the rest of the survivors.
felt his life was a gift from God and needed to share what she and her sister Betsie had learned in the concentration camp: "No pain so deep that the love of God can not reach him."
Corrie A tree planted at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem
At age 53, Corrie started a worldwide ministry to spread their faith and their experiences that led her to travel for more than 60 countries over the next 33 years of his life.
In 1968, the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem (Yad Vashem) asked him to plant a tree in memory of the lives of Jews who saved her and her family. So he did and that tree still grows there.
In the early 70's, his book "The Hiding Place" (The Shelter) became a bestseller.
also filmed a movie based on his history in 1975.
As stated earlier, Corrie was a woman who had faith in God. In 1978 he suffered a stroke that left her paralyzed. He died on April 15, 1983, the day he met 91 years. It is noteworthy that left this world on that particular date. According to Jewish tradition, just the people so blessed by God is given the special privilege of dying on the day of his birthday.
The former "shelter" a museum
The building at number 19 Barteljorisstraat in Haarlem, has not changed much since the '40s. Currently it is easier and faster to get there, as it is at a distance equivalent to a journey of only fifteen minutes away from Amsterdam.
In 1987, the Foundation Corrie ten Boom and bought it the following year it opened as a museum, because it is a place of great historic interest and strong inspiration for believers, which is still preserved as in his day room of the house, furniture, objects and number of family photographs, the "refuge" and a permanent exhibition of Dutch Resistance Movement.
actually turned to be "open house" for all the world as conceived by the ten Boom family on his principles and his faith, because the entry to visit is free. And to maintain the full tradition, on the ground floor still works the old watchmaking.
The story of Corrie ten Boom is nothing more (nor less) than that of an ordinary woman who did extraordinary things. A woman who even today, through his magnificent work, helps us to wake up from denial and indifference that sometimes feel to the events taking place in the world. -------------------------------------------------
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