The Hiding Place Book Report
The Hiding Place opens in 1937 with the ten Boom family celebrating the 100th anniversary of their watch and repair business, now run by the family 's elderly father, Casper. The business took up the ground floor of the family home, known as the Beje. Casper lived with his unmarried daughters Corrie, the watchmaker, and Betsie, who took care of the house. It seemed as if everyone in the Dutch town of Haarlem had shown up to the party, including Corrie 's sister Nollie, her brother, Willem, and her nephews Peter and Kik. Willem, a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church, brought a Jewish man who had just escaped from Germany as a guest. The man 's beard had been burned off by thugs, a grim reminder of what was happening just to the east of Holland. Then, in 1940, the Nazis invaded Holland.
Due to the family 's strong Christian beliefs, they felt obligated to help their Jewish friends in every way possible. The Beje soon became the center for a major anti-Nazi operation. Corrie, who had grown to think of herself as a middle-aged spinster, found herself involved in black market operations, stealing ration cards, and eventually hiding Jews in her own home. Corrie suffered a moral crisis over this work; not from helping the Jews, but from what she had to do to accomplish this: lying, theft, forgery, bribery, and even arranging a robbery. The Dutch underground arranged for a secret room to be built in the Beje, so the Jews would have a place to hide in the event of the inevitable raid. This secret room was hidden behind a wall in Corrie’s room. It was a constant struggle for Corrie to keep the Jews safe; she sacrificed her own safety and part of her own personal room to give constant safety to the Jews. Rolf, a police officer friend, trained her to be able to think clearly anytime in case the Nazis invaded her home and started to question her.
When a man asked Corrie to help his wife, who had been arrested, Corrie agreed, but with doubts. As it turned out,
Due to the family 's strong Christian beliefs, they felt obligated to help their Jewish friends in every way possible. The Beje soon became the center for a major anti-Nazi operation. Corrie, who had grown to think of herself as a middle-aged spinster, found herself involved in black market operations, stealing ration cards, and eventually hiding Jews in her own home. Corrie suffered a moral crisis over this work; not from helping the Jews, but from what she had to do to accomplish this: lying, theft, forgery, bribery, and even arranging a robbery. The Dutch underground arranged for a secret room to be built in the Beje, so the Jews would have a place to hide in the event of the inevitable raid. This secret room was hidden behind a wall in Corrie’s room. It was a constant struggle for Corrie to keep the Jews safe; she sacrificed her own safety and part of her own personal room to give constant safety to the Jews. Rolf, a police officer friend, trained her to be able to think clearly anytime in case the Nazis invaded her home and started to question her.
When a man asked Corrie to help his wife, who had been arrested, Corrie agreed, but with doubts. As it turned out,
Bibliography: Ten Boom, Corrie .., John L. Sherrill, and Elizabeth Sherrill. The Hiding Place. Washington Depot, CT: Chosen, 1971. Print.