In Jewish culture, we believe that only very few, the most virtuous of all, have the distinction of passing through the “gateway to the Lord” while still in this world. Similarly, very few endangered their lives in order to save persecuted Jews during the Holocaust.
The ten Boom family — Corrie, her father Casper, and her sister Elisabeth — are certainly deserving of this privilege. In their honor, a tree was planted in Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, when they were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. This is why I’m very happy that the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., has created a special exhibit this summer to honor Corrie ten Boom.
She and her family, believers, were spots of light in the thick darkness that descended on Europe and North Africa as the fist of the Nazis and their collaborators sought to annihilate the Jews.
Corrie had been taught by her father from an early age to cleave to the Bible and to recognize the special position of the Jewish people. When the Nazis invaded the Netherlands and began their oppression of the Jews, with the ultimate intention of sending them to the death camps, the ten Booms sought to provide a refuge for persecuted Jews. Their courage and sense of virtue saved many Jews, including numerous children.
Read more at The incredible true story of Corrie ten Boom.
