"The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom.

Essay by DevonessHigh School, 11th gradeA+, November 2005

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"The Hiding Place" is about Corrie ten Boom, her family, and how they helped the Jews in Holland when Germany invaded Holland in World War II.

The main characters are Corrie, her older sisters Betsie and Nollie, her older brother Willem, and their father, Casper ten Boom, commonly referred to as Opa.

The book starts out in January of 1937, in Haarlem, Holland.

When Germany invaded Holland during the beginning of World War II, the Jews were the German soldiers and Adolf Hitler's main targets. Jews were required to wear a yellow star on their shirt, and if they walked around town during the day, they risked being taken into captivity by the German soldiers. This, among other racism against the Jews, infuriated Corrie and her family. If a person was caught helping to hide a Jew, they were also taken into captivity. Corrie and her family didn't care if they'd ever get caught.

Her father once said, "I'd consider it an honor to give my life for just one of God's chosen people." Also, some of Corrie's dearest friends were Jews, and she wanted nothing but to keep them safe and away from harm.

During the course of World War II, Corrie and her family were part of the "Dutch Underground," a secret widespread group of people that would help to hide Jews and their families from the German soldiers. Corrie's family's house was the center of the "Dutch Underground." They had secret city-affiliated people that would help them with it, such as a meter man that would hide ration cards in the ten Boom's staircase. Dutch people needed ration cards to be able to eat while German had control over Holland, and ration cards were not issued to Jews. So Corrie would take the ration cards...