Corrie Ten Boom

by Serena Lee (14)
(Harris, MN)

Corrie Ten Boom was an extremely unselfish woman. Her parents had taught her to put others before herself. That is why she could welcome refugees into her home that she shared with her father and sister and hide them behind a special wall.

When she entered a concentration camp for her "crimes," she and her sister would share their bed with women who came later to the camp and had nowhere to sleep. They also shared their vitamins, even though they could have kept them a secret and only for themselves.


Not only was she hiding people at the risk of her life, but bravely she asked for extra ration books from a Dutch ration book distributor. The ration books were needed to feed the extra people who were hidden, lovingly, in their house. While in the Ravensbruck concentration camp, she even helped a young mother hide her newborn baby and gave her part of her meager food. It also took much bravery to go on living after her sister, Betsy, died. They had been so close.
After the war was over, Corrie Ten Boom wrote a letter forgiving the man who turned her family in to the Gestapo. And, with God's help she also forgave the cruel guards who had held her and her loved ones in the camp. She was forgiving.