Corrie Ten Boom: The Hiding Place

I first read The Hiding Place in my 8th grade honors English class. It was a book that I found fascinating and enjoyed at the time. As I was again trying to find books to include in my AP class, this is one that I thought of. I read through it a second time.

Corrie ten Boom was a devout Christian, raised in Denmark. She lived with her father and sister, Betsy, in their clock repair shop in a small Dutch town. As World War II broke out and the Germans invaded, the ten Booms were suddenly very aware of their Jewish neighbors. Corrie and her family begin helping the Dutch underground, helping take in Jews for short periods and hiding them in their home. Eventually, the ten Booms were caught, and Corrie was sent to Ravensbruck. This is a story of survival, faith, and doing what's right.

This book is a memoir, with Corrie ten Boom telling the story of her experiences during World War II. The story itself is well-written, and the pacing of the story kept my attention. It was a relatively fast read for me, and I think part of that is this pacing.

The story itself is so heavy. I would love to say that all of us would act as the ten Booms if we were in the same position, but I don't know that we would. What this family did was extremely courageous, and they suffered immensely because of the choices they made. However, I think if asked, Corrie ten Boom (and even her sister and father) would make the same choices again, because they were right. I found that part of her story the most inspiring: that to do what is right is the most important thing despite any consequences that might follow.

I also found Corrie's ability and capacity to forgive awe inspiring. She was able to forgive the horrible things that were inflicted upon her by the Nazis in Ravensbruck, and the prisons she was in before arriving in the concentration camp. ten Boom frames this as one of the major purposes of telling her story: to show other survivors that forgiveness is possible. I was deeply touched by her story and her ability to find healing after experiencing the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps.

ten Boom's belief in God is a central part of this story. This might not appeal to some readers. As a fellow Christian, it didn't bother me until I considered teaching this book in my classroom (where I'm more or less expected to be very neutral). I still included it on the reading list, and I doubt that this memoir will ever get challenged in my community becuase of the heavy emphasis it places on faith and God.

I rated this PG 13 because of the concentration camps.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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