19 Corrie Ten Boom Facts You Should Know About The Dutch Writer

Corrie Ten Boom and her family came into the limelight as an emissary during World War II and she was recognized for her voluntary contributions to saving the Jewish victims in the Netherlands.

Corrie Ten Boom was the youngest child of a professional watchmaker family. Being religious they followed the phrases of the Bible, which led them to become humane and conscious.

We do not have any evidence of her formal education. It is believed that she was homeschooled but later she went to Scotland and trained herself as a watchmaker which turned her into the first licensed lady watchmaker in Netherlands.

She went through heartbreak when she got to know that her beloved already had a fiancé. Being supportive of her family made her believe in the real ideologies of love, that one should make another way to navigate through a medium when the usual way does not make any sense.

This incident changed her entire life and built her strong identity.

Later she used to accommodate some Sunday classes to teach the people about the Bible lessons and made a youth club where almost thirty young men, twenty young girls, 10 women, and 20 men became volunteers and started working for society, helping the needy accordingly.

Their house in the city of Netherlands which still exists was turned into a hiding place for Jewish people.

We can find a big hollow place in the wall, the buzzers, the secret room in Corrie's place, her letters, and some other things are still pristine.

Her family helped Jewish people to escape from the Netherlands when the Dutch community and their own neighbors were reluctant. The infrastructure of their house was quite unique as it was later formed to incorporate two houses when the family members began to increase in the Ten Boom family.

The floors were not equal and there was a big hollow place between two sections and the family home later formed the hiding place of the refugees.

The 10 Boom family was betrayed by a man who came with an excuse of being helpful and became responsible for the death of Corrie's father and her elder sister after 10 months of intense suffering in the concentration camp.

In one of Corrie's speeches, she shared her brutal experience in the camp, where 700 people were forced to live in a place with a capacity of 200. The place was dusty, unhinged, and full of lice.

She also said that the commanders were trained to be violent to the people.

She also described some miraculous incidents and how she was being opportunistic with the help of God. After she was released, she started her social work with the help of the local and then at the global level to help the homeless and victims of war.

Her faith in God was still intact and she started to explore the truth of life.

Facts About Corrie Ten Boom

Corrie Ten Boom, was not an ordinary lady. This marvelous socialist had performed many dynamic deeds. continue reading to find some astonishing facts about her life.

Corrie's full name is Cornelia Arnolda Johanna Ten Boom. She was born on April 15, 1892, in Harlem, Netherlands to a Dutch family who was a professional watchmakers.

Her grandfather was Willem Ten Boom; her parents were Casper Ten Boom and Cornelia Ten Boom Luitingh. She had three siblings, Betsie Ten Boom and Nollie Van Woerden were her two sisters. Her brother, Willem Ten Boom, was just like Corrie's grandfather.

She never got married and devoted her whole life to religion and social work. She became a worldwide famous writer, motivational speaker, and social activist who worked for the development of the Jewish people, tried to improve their condition, and accomplished faith on religion.

She saved over a hundred children from the captivity of Nazi camp with the help of volunteers of her local youth club.

Ten Boom's family turned their house into a hiding place with a secret room from the Nazi people and helped them all to escape. Her family members were arrested several times. Her 87 years old father died after ten days of imprisonment. Her brother Andrew and his son died later after they were out of prison.

Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsie were arrested and then sent to the Nazi concentration camp where she faced intense torture.

She introduced herself as an emissary of God, all the people who are apparently the children of God are in control of their actions. She had always used biblical illustrations in her speech and writings.

She created many youth camps for the purpose of doing something for the betterment of the young age group of Jewish. Later she was released from the concentration camp. She spent her efforts into reconstructing the Jewish people's houses and working for the orphans. She converted the Nazi campus into a refuge for the homeless solitary people.

This incredible personality left us forever on April 15, 1983, at the age of 91, in Placentia, California, in the US.

Corrie Ten Boom's Books

We are talking about Corrie Ten Boom, who is recognized as one of the best Dutch authors and a public speaker of the 20th century.

Once in her interview she stated her optimistic view about life, where she mentioned happiness does not depend on your surroundings, it is all about what you will fill in your mind.

She had an incredible writing skill through which she helped people connect with their higher self and motivated them highly.

Her books play a significant role by helping people gather knowledge about life, love, happiness, faith, and their true identity.

These books seem to be like motivational books which help people to fight their current misery and sustain a peaceful life, helping to keep a solid faith in God along with their decisions.

'The Hiding Place' was the most recognized book Boom wrote and it was published in 1971 in the month of November. It is an autobiographical non-fiction book that narrates the life struggle of Corrie Ten Boom and how her family hid the Jews in her house.

Some of the other books written by Corrie Ten Boom are 'Tramp For The Lord', 'Each New Day', 'My Father's House', 'Amazing Love', 'A Prisoner And Yet', 'Prison Letters', 'Not Good I'd Detached', 'This Day Is The Lords', 'Not I But Christ', 'Clipping From My Notebook', 'Marching Order', 'Prayer and Promises for Every Day', 'Defeat Enemy', 'Common Sense Not Needed', 'The End Battles', and 'Father Ten Boom, He is More Than Able'.

Her most famous book 'The Hiding Place' was later made into a film with the same title, which was awarded BAFTA in 1978 and Golden Globes in 1976.

Corrie Ten Boom's Accomplishments

Corrie Ten Boom was one of the most renowned people in the Ten Boom Family.

Corrie and her entire family did some incredible social work for the Jewish community during the World War period.

Corrie and her entire family's contribution to saving the Jewish community are still appreciated by the world.

Her lifetime achievements are always cherished by the Dutch people. Her accomplishments in life encourage lots of people to do something for the betterment of the world.

Yad Vashem, the world holocaust remembrance center in the state of Israel awarded her with the title, Righteous among the nations on 12th December 1967.

Her rescue missions for the Jewish people and how their family helped them transfer their house into a hiding place, the story of her family's struggle was recognized by the Queen of the Netherlands, and Corrie was knighted by her.

The Ten Boom Museum in Haarlem is devoted to the Ten Boom family to recognize their hardships to save people from the Nazis and their extraordinary works. It is an honorable phenomenon for all the Dutch community.

 A new women's house was denominated in her honor by The King's College in New York City.

Corrie Ten Boom's Education

As we know education plays a significant role in each person's life to develop a social structure, taste, attributes, and point of view towards life. This was not different in the case of Corrie Ten Boom either.

We did not find any trace of formal education in her earlier life but she was a sensible person right from her childhood, developed a deep faith in religion, and maintained those regulations solely.

After her mother's death and her sister's poor condition of health, she started to help her father in her family watch-making business and repair shop. After that, she formally did a course on watchmaking and in the year 1922, she became the first licensed lady watchmaker in Netherlands.

She had great faith in Christianity and always engaged herself to read the Holy Bible like the old testament. She read it with faith and explained the meaning of each chapter. Her main education was done through these religious books and it helped her to develop an eye for how she manifested the distressed people of present society.

She also took up some Sunday classes and taught people biblical illustrations. She also made some children's clubs for educating the children about religion.

As we know, knowledge does not only come from formal studies; it can be acquired from the experiences and what you have learned from it; with this attitude, Corrie's life was just like an open book, in which every page was filled with great knowledge.

These great experiences helped her later to understand life and she did change the life of other people.