“It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, a former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there – the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie's pain-blanched face. He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. “How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein.” He said. “To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!” His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side. Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him. I tried to smile, I struggles to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I prayed, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness. As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.”
Corrie Ten Boom (1892 - 1983)
Known for the book the "Hiding Place" where she smuggled Jewish people during the great World Wars under the Nazi regime. She had a vibrant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that showed in her love for others especially the people of Israel. She ended up going to a concentration camp where she suffered greatly and survived to share the story of faith.Corrie's faith story and testimony was shared in many settings especially in the 60-70's where she toured all across North America encouraging Christians of how to endure coming persecution. Her ministry was to encourage faith and love in the hardest circumstances.
Recommends these books by Corrie Ten Boom:
Amazing Love: True Stories of the Power of Forgiveness by Corrie Ten Boom
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
Each New Day: 365 Reflections To Strengthen Your Faith by Corrie Ten Boom
Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch, Christian, Holocaust survivor who helped many Jews escape the Nazis during World War II.
Corrie was living with her older sister and her father in Haarlem when Holland surrendered to the Nazis. She was 48, unmarried and worked as a watchmaker in the shop that her grandfather had started in 1837.
Corrie's involvement with the Dutch underground began with her acts of kindness in giving temporary shelter to her Jewish neighbors who were being driven out of their homes. Soon the word spread, and more and more people came to her home for shelter. As quickly as she would find places for them, more would arrive.
She returned to Germany in 1946, and traveled the world as a public speaker, appearing in over sixty countries, during which time she wrote many books.
Her autobiography, The Hiding Place, was later made into a movie of the same name. In December, 1967, Ten Boom was honored as one of the Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel.
In 1977, Ten Boom, then 85 years old, moved to Orange, California. Successive strokes in 1978 took away her powers of speech and communication and left her an invalid for the last five years of her life. She died on her birthday, April 15, 1983, at the age of 91.
Many Christians know the story of Corrie ten Boom through her book The Hiding Place, and the motion picture released by the same name in the 1970s.
It is the story of a Gentile Christian family who spearheaded a rescue operation in Holland that helped hundreds of Jews escape the Nazi extermination camps.
Like faithful Ruth, the ten Booms took their allegiance to the Jews seriously.