The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom is the autobiographical account of Corrie and her sister, Betsie, during World War II. After being taken to a concentration camp, they witness to the other inmates. The book takes place during World War II in Holland and Germany. Corrie tells of her home life, her capture, and her ministry to the Jews in the concentration camps. Corrie begins telling of her home in the beje on top of the family watch shop. At forty-five she is still unmarried and she and her sister live with their father.
Corrie recalls her life for the past forty-five years; her widowed aunts moving in; her mothers death, the struggles of their shop, and her first day of school. She also tells of the Jews hiding in the beje. Then Corrie tells of her capture. On February 28, 1944, she woke up to hear people breaking in to the beje. Then a man burst into her bedroom and dragged her downstairs, where she found her father and Betsie being questioned. After that they took them all captive and sent them to prison.
There, they put them on trial and decided to send them to concentration camps. The first concentration camp they arrived at was called Vught; but they didnt stay there long. From there they were transported by trains to Ravensbruck in Germany. When they arrived they were told to turn in all of their belongings; including their clothes. Since Betsie had a stomach virus, they took it for advantage and asked if they could use the toilets. What they really did though, was hide their Bible so that after the inspection they could get it back.
They were both assigned to Barracks 28 where they began their ministry. Betsie decided that they should thank God for the fleas, because there were so many of them that the guards rarely inspected the Barracks. The knitting areas were so crowded that all the women in Barracks 28 had to sit on their beds to knit. While they knitted Corrie and Betsie read scriptures and brought many other women to Christ. After being at Ravensbruck for several months, Betsie became very ill.
She was sent to the hospital, but they didnt do much for her. A few weeks later when Corrie came to visit her, she found she had died. Corrie was glad Betsie had gone to be with the Lord, because the treatment at Ravensbruck was getting worse. Then one morning during roll call, Corrie was told to stand to the side while all the other women were taken back into the Barracks. Then she was given back all her personal belongings. Then she was told that she was free!
