Corrie ten Boom was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on April 15, 1892; her parents were Casper ten Boom and his wife, Cornelia. Casper was a watchmaker, and Corrie followed in his footsteps, becoming the first woman in Holland to be licensed as a watchmaker in 1924. The ten Boom family were devout members of the Dutch Reformed Church and were involved in many charitable activities, including caring for children and running youth clubs.

After Nazi Germany invaded Holland in 1940, the ten Boom family’s religious convictions led them to work with the resistance and help Jewish people hide and escape the Nazis. In 1944, their home was raided, and Casper, Corrie, and Corrie’s sister Betsie, along with other members of their family, were arrested and imprisoned. Casper died ten days later; Corrie and Betsie eventually ended up in Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. Betsie died in December 1944; Corrie was released later that same month and returned to Holland.

Corrie’s postwar activities included administering a home for other concentration camp survivors and traveling the world as a public speaker; she was a prolific writer, with her memoir The Hiding Place made into a movie. She died on April 15, 1983.

Bibliography/Additional Resources

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum article: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/corrie-ten-boom

C.S. Lewis Institute article: https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/profiles-in-faith-corrie-ten-boom/

“The Question of God” article on PBS: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/voices/boom.html

The Corrie ten Boom House: https://www.corrietenboom.com/en/home

Crossway Podcast episode: https://www.crossway.org/articles/podcast-the-life-and-legacy-of-corrie-ten-boom-jennifer-t-kelley/?srsltid=AfmBOoqiPbOpwvhFSShuNWZBQ2rC8ZrECQpVBuJ7xbwthpdg4CITjeAP