The Hiding Place

Faith—particularly the way that faith upholds and strengthens people through challenges—lies at the heart of The Hiding Place. The book’s religious elements often lead to it being read more for devotional and inspirational purposes than for historical or literary interests. Corrie presents the story of her life within the context of her Christian faith. Her belief in God’s love, as demonstrated through the sacrificial death of Jesus, forms the crux of how she interprets events: “How could God Himself show truth and love at the same time in a world like this? By dying. The answer stood out for me sharper and chiller than it ever had before that night: the shape of a Cross etched on the history of the world” (92).

She does not see the Nazi occupation’s horrifying atrocities as representing God’s abandonment. Instead, she sees them as a demonstration of the world’s brokenness, into which God has fully entered through Jesus’s pain and death. Faith is Corrie’s way of interpreting and making sense of life. It allows her to persevere through her challenges.

The devout faith of the ten Boom family explains most of their actions. They believe that God loves all people, making the greatest possible sacrifice to redeem them; they feel compelled to represent that love to the world. This can be seen in their taking in of foster children, in their assistance to Jewish individuals in hiding, and in their attitudes toward the guards in their prison camps. Their Christian faith is deeply rooted in the Bible, and they are much more sympathetic to Jewish individuals than many of the more nominal Christians of their day. The ten Booms are convinced from scripture that Jewish individuals are the chosen people of God, and therefore merit a special level of honor, affection, and respect.

Corrie’s faith is reinforced by daily habits of devotional practice. Corrie’s father leads her family, as well as clock shop employees, friends, or guests who happen to be present, in Bible readings and prayers. These Bible readings inspire Corrie to see God as her “hiding place,” an image used in the biblical book of Psalms. She continues her devotional habits everywhere she goes, even after her arrest, and these practices give her the hope to persevere. She manages to hide biblical materials during her incarcerations in Scheveningen, Vught, and Ravensbruck. By the end of their time in Ravensbruck, Corrie and Betsie are doing exactly what their father did for so many years: gathering a large group around them every day to hear Bible readings and to pray. This practice that sustains them: “[…] the life we lived with God [in Ravensbruck] grew daily better, truth upon truth, glory upon glory” (195).