9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
INCREDIBLY MOVING SAGA OF HEROIC DUTCH FAMILY DURING WW II.., 30 Dec 2002
This is an absolutely extraordinary book. Never have I read a book in which the spiritual beauty of the author so resonated throughout the story. The purity of heart that manifests itself in this inspiring saga of a heroic, Dutch family in Nazi occupied Holland during World War II is stunningly beautiful.
This is the true story of the Ten Boom family who, during the Nazi occupation of The Netherlands, upon seeing what was happening to their jewish neighbors and friends, asked themselves this age old question "If not us,...who; if not now,...when?" They answered it, ultimately, at great cost.
The Ten Booms were devoutly Christian and lived a simple life. The patriarch of the family ran a watch shop that had been in his family for a century. Some of the family members, the author among them, worked there, selling and repairing clocks and watches. They also lived in the house in which the shop was located.
When the Nazis occupied their country, the reality of what it meant slowly dawned upon them, as they saw the treatment given to their fellow Dutch citizens of the jewish faith. Moved by their plight, the author at the age of fifty, together with other members of her family, including their father who was nearly eighty, became active in the Dutch underground.
When it became clear to the Ten Booms that jews were being targeted for deportation and death, they had a false wall constructed in the author's bedroom, thereby creating a secret room. There, they would hide the terrified jews who were staying with them, in the event of a Nazi raid upon their home.
Eventually denounced by someone to the Nazis, the Ten Booms were arrested and their home raided and torn apart by the Gestapo, in their search for the jews they believed to be hiding there. At the time of the raid, the Ten Boom home was filled to capacity with jews in hiding. So well concealed was the hidden room that had been created by the erection of the false wall, that these poor, terrified jews managed to escape detection.
The Ten Boom family, however, did not fare so well. It was upon their arrest that they learned first hand of man's inhumanity to man, and their faith was put to a test that they had never dreamt possible. It was faith, however, that sustained the author in what was to be her hour of darkest despair. To find out what happened to the Ten Booms, read this book. It is the story of an incredible family, who had the courage to put their convictions to the test.
This book is a masterpiece. The reader is sure to be captivated by the goodness and spiritual beauty contained within its pages.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A unique story of courage, 12 Dec 2000
The highly emotional story of Corrie ten Boom is told beautifully in her book, The Hiding Place. It is, in a word, unique. Her courage shows throughout the story, of how her trust in her sister and her belief that God loved her kept her sustained throughout the horrors of a concentration camp during the Second World War, sent there because she did what she thought was right. She risked everything to protect Jews from the Nazis, because Jesus was a Jew; and this is a quality I have never heard of in such a strong sense before. Every moment of the story held me in amazement, as I gradually realised the true meaning of being a prisoner and Corrie's survival a struggle all the way, in a battle of her emotions and her sister's beliefs of forgiveness to everyone who did wrong. The most striking thing for me, however, was no matter what happened, the sisters thanked God, and their prayers were always answered. A remarkable book, telling the story of a remarkable woman.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deeply moving tale, that is a lesson to us all, 10 Dec 2001
By A Customer
A wonderful reflection upon a life filled with blissful simplicity and happiness until the last few years of World War II. Corrie's love for all cannot be crushed, even in one of Nazi Germany's worst concentration camps. A must read for any Christian, a definite must read for everyone else.
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