Corrie Ten Boom Death is knocking at the door. How do you find the courage to sur vive?

Corrie lived through the darkest concentration camps and lived to tell the story. Her and her family were active Christians before and after the dreadful war in Germany. During the war they hid Jews in their home from the Nazis. Not s o long after, German police busted into her house and arrested her and her dear family. She was forced to live in Vught and Ravensbrck; two repulsive and ghastly concentration camps. Corrie ten Boom showed unwavering bravery and faith in God during her horrible experience in the concentration camps and every day through out her life. First, Corrie ten Boom had an accomplished watch making career before sh e was brutally arrested. She loved fixing watches and was the first licensed lad y watchmaker in Holland (ten Boom 54). God played a major role in her life, and she attended the Dutch Reformed Church in Haarlem, Holland. In December of 1967 Y ad Vashem Remembrance Authority said Corrie ten Boom was Righteous Among the Nati ons (United States). Her family believed all people were created equal and absolute ly disagreed with the Jews being punished for the problems in Germany. (United S tates) Corrie ten Boom hid Jews attempting to escape from the Nazis. Unfortunat ely, SS officers soon received a note from Lieutenant Rahms saying they were hid ing Jews, so the SS had her captured and transported her to awful concentration camps (ten Boom 236). After she survived the atrocious camps she wrote a book ab out her experience called The Hiding Place and wrote first-hand how cruel and na stily prisoners were treated. Her life was a scary, horrible, and rocky journey, but she would have never survived if it had not been for her family. Second, Corries supportive family helped her obtain a desire to live. Bet sie led the major part of her faith in God and helped her create an optimistic a ttitude. Just before she died she told Corrie, There is no pit so deep, the love of God is not deeper still (Teller). She died December 16, 1944 from sickness and exhaustion developed from working continuously in the forced labor camps. Corri e also had a sister named Nollie, who married Flip van Woerden, a school teacher (ten Boom 6). They had a secret hiding place in their kitchen where their potat o shelter was kept (ten Boom 9). One terrifying day Bob and Peter (Nollie and Fl ips children) sprinted into the house and coarsely whispered that the SS officers were after them; they hastily jumped into the hiding place just as the officers paraded into the house. The nasty men barked orders to know exactly where they boys were and Cocky, their sister, simply told the SS. Luckily, just as they wer e checking the exact location Cocky started roaring with laughter. Prideful Germ an officers did not want to appear foolish, so they stopped searching and yelled some more at Cocky (ten Boom 92). The Lord showed everyone a lesson including C orrie to always tell the truth and God will provide a way out. Although the hidi ng place worked for Nollie and Flip, SS officers would discover the ten Booms. Third, Corrie felt a deep calling and sympathy for the Jews being kidnap ped and murdered and wanted to establish a refuge for them to take cover in. Mr. Smit helped Corrie create a secret room for the fleeing Jews to hide. He decided to put it in Corries bedroom which was located at the tip top room of the huge ho use. It was thirty inches in length and one single vent aired out the room. To e nter into the surreptitious and secret room there was a two feet by two feet sli ding panel opened from a book shelf in front. Mr. Smit constructed it out of bri ck, for wood sounded hallow and SS officers would identify it in seconds (ten Bo om 89). Once assembled seven runaway Jews moved in with the ten Booms and shared supplies. But, a difficulty arose; people could not purchase food without Ration cards. Fred Koornstra staged a hold up and stole one hundred ration cards from th e grocery store which helped the hiders receive food (ten Boom, 84). Although no w it appeared a walk in the park, sooner or later the police would find out. The awful day fell on February 28, 1994, when the Gestapo came breaking into the ten Boom house (United States). Corrie was in bed with the flu when they took h er hostage and attempted to beat answers out of her (ten Boom 127). Thirty five people were arrested that dreadful day and hauled off to the Scheveningen ghetto , but only Corrie, Betsie and their father, Casper, were brutally taken to Raven sbrck. In order to avoid the SS officers spotting important documents Corrie and

Betsie excused themselves to the restroom and flushed them down the toilet (ten Boom 149). Just as the SS officers were cruel to Corrie and her family, Vught wa s even more vicious and mean. Fourth, Corrie was assigned to the Phillips factory in Vught. The job co nsisted of measuring glass rods and placing them into piles based on the length; performing that task every day for about ten hours was very tedious and dull (t en Boom 176). Nevertheless, her thoughtful boss promoted her to a more interesti ng job where she would relay switches for the final assembly (ten Boom, 176). Ho wever, Vught was not a walk in the park, the first transport arrived January 13, 1943 from Amersfoort in very ghastly condition. (Concentration camp). An inmate recalled, [We were] far past what is usually called emaciation and almost at a f atal stage of malnutrition, incapable of personal and social discipline, unwashe d, resigned to the lice, clothed in unbelievable rags, and covered with every ki nd of running, infected sore (Bartrop 94). Corrie witnessed dreadful obscenities and also inherited lice. Before long, gigantic explosions pierced the air and d amaged the inmates eardrums. Mr. Moorman told Corrie and Betsie to open their mou th and drop the lower jaw to reduce the earsplitting blasts of the bombs (ten Bo om 184). Suddenly, Betsie and Corrie were herded into a freight train like cattl e and for what should have held forty women; eighty were shoved into that human grave (ten Boom 185). Betsie praised God in this lethal predicament though Corri e could not comprehend (ten Boom 185). On the train ride, through a hole in the wall Corrie could distinguish a town, Emmerich, which confirmed they were deep i nside the heart of Germany (ten Boom 186). In the end, they would discover they were headed to the notorious, repulsive, womens camp, Ravensbrck. Fifth, Corrie arrived in Ravensbrck, which she recalled hearing about way back in Haarlem, Holand (ten Boom, 185). They lingered in line for what seemed like day s and finally progressed to the front. In the front of the line, ladies heads wer e shaved, and clothes removed for the discomforting time in the showers. However, Corrie yearned to keep her vitamins and Bible which had become lifesaver and en couragement. The Lord had her back once again; Betsie had to go to the restroom and in there were some benches that Corrie hid her valuables behind to save them for later use (ten Boom 188). Yet, still to come were trials not as easy to fix as the first. Sixth, Corrie and Betsie were assigned different tasks in the awful camp Ravensbrck. Back breaking labor in the Siemens factory had Corrie bearing unspeak able pains in her heart, and severe leg pains (ten Boom 203). Fortunately, Corri e had trouble distinguishing objects from a few feet away and was sent to the op tometrist to receive glasses (ten Boom 211). However, glasses were not available , so the nurse sent her to carry out an easier job of knitting in a factory for a change (ten Boom 211). It also happened that Betsie was appointed to the same simple factory of knitting all day while sitting down (ten Boom 212). Together t hey praised God everyday and ministered to the frightened people in the knitting factory (ten Boom 212). Although the laughter and praise to God was refreshing, it was not to last long. Seventh, Betsie had a wonderful life and her last days on earth were com ing to an abrupt end. Two weeks before Christmas Betsie woke up and could not mo ve her legs or arms. Corrie and Mien carried her to the hospital where they laid her down on the hard, cold ground (ten Boom 215). Unfortunately, Betsie ten Boo m died on December 16, 1944, in the hospital at Ravensbrck. Corrie recalled that she looked peaceful and happy lying there in her frail, human body and could not wait to join her again in heaven (ten Boom 215). In the end, Betsies words and o ptimistic attitude stayed with Corrie and helped her to survive until the end. In conclusion, Corrie had a tough life and let her bravery and God lead her through the bumpy, rough roads. Family and friends encouraged her through an d showed her how to lay her trust in God. Corrie was a brilliant watchmaker just like her father, Casper, but the war suddenly changed that (ten Boom 54). Hidin g the Jews in her bedroom did not last long when the SS officers busted into the ir house and kidnapped them and dragged them to Vught and then to Ravensbrck. Ult imately, Corrie ten Booms courage and faith in God helped her survive the camps a nd keep her alive. Living through the torture and agony of the camps would you o

f had the motivation to survive??? Works Cited Bartrop, Paul. Surviving the Camps. New York: University Press of America, 2000. Concentration Camp Vught. Hans Vanderwerff. 13 Dec. 2007. 3 Apr. 2009 <http://w ww.cympm.com/vught.html>. Macmillan, Simon and Schuster. Historical Atlas of the Holocaust. New York: Macm illan Publishing USA: 1996. Morrison, Jack. Ravensbrck. New Jersey: Markus Wiener Publishers: 2000. Teller, Jean. Life Lessons a Close Look at Corrie ten Boom. Grit. Feb. 2005. 6 Apr . 2009 <http://tinyurl.com/tenboom>. Ten Boom, Corrie. The Hiding Place. Ohio: Evangelical Christian Publishers Assoc iation, 1971. United States Holocaust memorial Museum. Corrie Ten Boom. 11 March 2009. 3 Apr. 2009 <http://www.ushmm.org/w/c/article/php?lang=en&ModuleId=10006914 >.