Venture back to World War II and the Nazi-occupied Netherlands. That’s where the famed ten Boom family ran a successful watch shop which would come to hide many Jews and Resistance workers.
Among the family members was Corrie ten Boom. Books have been written about her heroism and extraordinary faith but none quite like the newly released The Watchmaker’s Daughter which reads like an action thriller.
During World War II, it’s estimated Corrie saved the lives of some 800 Jews and Resistance workers, many of them hiding at her family’s home and watch shop. All of their lives were on the line every day and that’s the tension and drama author Larry Loftis captures in the book.
“It’s all true but it’s structured exactly like a thriller with cliffhangers, with misdirection, with missing information,” explained Loftis in an interview with CBN News.
He tells the story of Corrie, her family and their remarkable resistance work against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Europe.
“The Gestapo is going after everybody,” said Loftis. “They’re after the Jews. They’re after the ‘Dutch Divers.’ They’re after the Dutch Resistance, all of the people that are helping them. They’re crashing down doors in the middle of the night.”
***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***
Loftis, who spent days digging through the ten Boom archives at Wheaton College, includes the story of one particularly tense lunch. Jews and Resistance workers were all gathered around the table when someone appeared at the window.
“They’re like, ‘What?’ And one of the Resistance guys there says, ‘Ok, nobody move but there’s a guy peering through the window who’s sort of cleaning the window but he’s looking through the curtains,'” said Loftis. “And Betsy, Corrie’s sister, says, ‘Well, I didn’t order the windows cleaned.’ And then someone else says, ‘There’s no ledge.’ And the Resistance guy says, ‘He’s on a ladder.’ So everybody’s frozen and so one of the key people in the story, Eusi, who’s a Jew, says, ‘Okay look, just everybody continue on like normal and in a few minutes we’re going to sing Happy Birthday.'”
This was a taste of everyday life for the ten Booms and their guests. Getting caught could be a capital offense punishable by death.
“That kind of tension, that kind of drama is throughout the story,” said Loftis. “It could be a German military truck that parks right in front of their house one night and everybody rushes into the hiding place. And so it’s just on and on and on.”
A young Dutchman named Hans Poley brought the family into the Resistance. He was hiding with the ten Booms – a so-called “Dutch Diver.” When Corrie found out he was part of the Resistance, she wanted to help.
“‘Let’s use the house as headquarters,'” Loftis said, recounting Corrie’s enthusiasm. “‘So, feel free, tell me what I need to do and we’ll use this as our headquarters.'”
The ten Booms hired an architect to build a hiding place behind a secret wall. When the Germans would come by to sweep the home and watch shop, that’s where the Jews and “Dutch Divers” would hide.
Throughout it all, deep Christian faith served as the ten Boom’s motivation, starting with Corrie’s father.
“Casper, Corrie’s father, was absolutely a spiritual giant and he was a giant because his father was, Corrie’s grandfather, and then the great grandfather,” explained Loftis.
And it was their faith that led them to love the Jewish people.
“He (Casper) was really gentle and just loved people,” said Loftis. “He would see the German police arresting somebody and Corrie’s like, ‘Oh those poor people,’ and Casper’s like, ‘Yeah, they touched the apple of God’s eye.’ And Corrie’s like, ‘What?’ He’s worried about the Germans, how messed they are spiritually, that they’re spiritually barren.'”
Loftis says Corrie’s life can be summed up by the Reformation Creed: After darkness, light.
“She went through absolute darkness, absolute hell, as did Casper, as did Betsy, as did Willem, as did the other people in the story,” said Loftis. “They’re all in concentration camps and prisons. But she always, the whole family, they found light.”
Without giving too much away, by the war’s end Corrie had a lot to be angry about. However, instead of resentment she chose grace and that became another part of her incredible legacy.
The remainder of this article is available in its entirety at CBN
