In the book, The Hiding Place, Corrie and Betsie go through some horrifying experiences. Along with their father, Mr. Ten Boom, they are sent to jail for hiding and transporting Jews during the Holocaust. While in jail, Mr. Boom becomes sick and dies in the hospital on the hallway floor. After their father dies, Corrie and Betsie are sent to a Concentration Camp. They were beaten constantly for any excuse the Germans could find, they were even beaten for talking. One time Betsie was beaten for what they said was “slacking” in the field and being lazy. The Germans beat her for not doing her fair share of the work.
The medical care was so poor in the Camp that people died from the smallest of illnesses. Betsie would spend her time whenever possible comforting the other women and reading the Word of God. Corrie would tell Betsie that the Camp was like hell and God knew nothing about how bad it was. Betsie disagreed and would tell her, “There is no hole so deep that God is not deeper still.” Betsie becomes very ill and dies the night Corrie gets released from the camp.
The book taught us a lot about The Holocaust and how much the Jews suffered. It was an awful time in history and reading about Corrie and Betsie’s lives made us very thankful that we have not had to live with such tragedies. Corrie Ten Boom is a very brave woman for sharing her story and we are sad that she was forced to suffer so much. The death of her father and sister and the abuse she received in the Concentration Camp was more than any human being should ever have to experience.