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Corrie ten Boom in scouting uniform (around 1921). Photo Source

Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Corrie ten Boom

Cornelia Arnolda Johanna ten Boom, also known as 鈥淐orrie鈥� ten Boom, was born on April 15, 1892, in Haarlem, Netherlands; near Amsterdam. She was a Dutch watchmaker and later a Christian writer and public speaker.

She worked with her father, Casper ten Boom, her sister Betsie ten Boom and other family members to help many Jewish people escape from the Nazis during the Holocaust in World War II by hiding them in her home. They were caught, and she was arrested and sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp.

The Ten Boom Museum in Haarlem is dedicated to her and her family in recognition of their work, and the King’s College in New York City named a new women’s house in her honor.

Her most famous book, The Hiding Place, is a biography that recounts the story of her family鈥檚 efforts and how she found and shared hope in God while she was imprisoned at the concentration camp. It was made into a film in 1975 starring Jeannette Clift as Corrie and Julie Harris as Betsie.

1. She Was The First Female Licensed Watch Maker in The Netherlands

Pocket watch. Photo By Bruno /Germany –

Corrie鈥檚 father was a jeweler and watchmaker. The ten Boom family lived above Casper鈥檚 watch shop, the 鈥淏ejes鈥�, a house named for the Barteljorisstraat where they lived. Corrie spent the first part of her life in charge of housekeeping.

However, when a cold sent Betsie, her sister, to bed for an extended period, Corrie took Betsie鈥檚 place and started to work in the watch shop. She trained to be a watchmaker herself, and in 1922, she became the first woman to be licensed as a watchmaker in the Netherlands.

2. Corrie Was Deemed Unfit For Marriage Due Her Social Class

Although Corrie was interested in boys and romance, she lacked confidence that she would ever find a husband. Corrie and Karel, her brother鈥檚 friend, began courting in the hopes of getting married but unfortunately, this didn鈥檛 come to pass.

Karel鈥檚 parents wanted their son to 鈥渕arry well.鈥� They wanted their daughter-in-law to have the right social pedigree and wealth, and Corrie, in their eyes, was unfit to marry their son. Even though Karel loved Corrie, he acquiesced to his parent’s wishes. Corrie then decided never to get married.

3. She Was Dedicated To Serving Her Community

In addition to working in her father鈥檚 shop, Corrie established a youth club for teenage girls, which provided religious instruction and classes in the performing arts, sewing, and handicrafts.

She and her family were devoutly religious, and their faith inspired them to serve their society by offering food, shelter and money to those in need. In this tradition, the family held a deep respect for the Jewish community in Amsterdam, considering them 鈥淕od鈥檚 ancient people.鈥�

4. Corrie鈥檚 Homestead Was A Refugee For Jews Of Holland During The Holocaust

In May 1940, the Germans invaded the Netherlands, and one of their restrictions was the banning of the youth club. Two years later, a Jewish woman showed up at the ten Booms鈥� asking for help from them after hearing about how they had previously helped their Jewish neighbours.

They agreed to help the woman. Corrie and her sister Betsie opened their home to Jewish refugees and members of the resistance movement, and as a result, the Gestapo and its Dutch counterpart sought after them.

5. Her Refugee Work Became Known As The Dutch Resistance

The Dutch resistance sent an architect to the Ten Boom home to build a secret room in Corrie鈥檚 bedroom, behind a false wall that would hold six people. The secret room came to be known as 鈥淭he Hiding Place.鈥�

Corrie鈥檚 involvement in the Dutch resistance grew beyond gathering stolen ration cards for food coupons and harboring Jews in her home. She soon became part of the Dutch underground resistance network and oversaw a network of smuggling Jews to safe places. An estimate of 800 Jews were saved by Corrie鈥檚 efforts.

6. She Was Arrested After A Dutch Spy Revealed The 鈥楬iding Place鈥�

Picture of Prison Bar. Photo By Ichigo121212 –

In February 1944, Jan Vogel, a Dutch informant, told the Nazis about Ten Boom鈥檚 work. This led to their arrest and imprisonment in Scheveningen Prison.

Corrie was initially held in solitary confinement, and three months later, she was taken to her first hearing. Casper, Corrie鈥檚 Father died ten days after their arrest. The Jews and resistance workers hiding in the residence were not discovered.

7. Corrie Smuggled A Bible in The German Concentration Camp

Holy bible book. Photo By Leon Brooks –

Corrie and Betsie were sent to Herzogenbusch, a political concentration camp, and finally to the Ravensbruck concentration camp, a women鈥檚 labour camp in Germany. There, they held worship services after the hard days at work using a Bible they managed to bring illegally.

Through their teachings and examples in charity, many of the prisoners converted to Christianity.

8. Corrie Escaped Her Execution By A Whisker

Corrie was released from Ravensbruck in 1944. She was later told that her release was because of a clerical error. A week later, all the women in her age group were sent to the gas chambers, a sealed chamber into which poisonous gas was introduced to kill humans, to be executed!

9. Corrie Received Recognition From The Queen Of the Netherlands For Her Work During The War

For her efforts to hide Jews from arrest and deportation during the German occupation of the Netherlands, Corrie ten Boom received recognition from the Yad Vashem Remembrance Authority as one of the 鈥淩ighteous among the Nations鈥� in 1967.

In resisting Nazi prosecution, Corrie acted in concert with her religious beliefs, her family experience and the Dutch resistance. She was knighted by the Queen of the Netherlands in recognition of her work during the war.

10. She Became an International Public Speaker and Missionary After Release From Prison

Corrie ten Boom in scouting uniform (around 1921). Photo source

After she was set free from Ravensbruck Concentration Camp in Germany, Corrie ten Boom went around the world for thirty-three years, from 1944-1977, speaking in sixty-four countries across Europe, sharing God鈥檚 forgiveness with people in places that had been destroyed during the war.

In 1978, Corrie suffered two strokes, the first rendered her unable to speak, and the second resulted in paralysis. She died on her 91^st birthday in 1983. Courageous during the war, she devoted herself to helping others heal from the wounds of war by showing God鈥檚 love and forgiveness.