Movie Night - The Hiding Place

Last Friday we watched most of The Hiding Place movie after finishing this book about the life of Corrie ten Boom (in addition to this book which I read aloud to the children, I also read the book, The Hiding Place, on my own. A really, really, really inspirational read!)


It is another one of the Christian Heroes Then and Now Series, and like the others we've read this year, it was fantastic!! I LOVE this series. Corrie ten Boom lived with her parents and older, unmarried sister in Haarlem, Holland, where her father owned and operated a clock shop. After the Nazi invasion of Holland in 1940, her family began to harbor Jews in their home, some for a short time, and some longer. When Corrie was 50 and her sister Betsie was 57 (and their father was 84!), the Gestapo raided their home, not finding the Jews hidden in the secret room, but arresting the family and several others who were gathered there for a prayer meeting at the time.

Both the book and movie chronicle Corrie and Betsie's experience in a local prison and then later at Ravensbruck concentration camp. Their father died of pneumonia after only 10 days of captivity ~ this was heartbreaking for his daughters when they finally learned of it, but they were able to rejoice that he was safely "home" and not experiencing the hell on earth that they were. There were several points in the book where I had to stop reading due to tears (the children were very patient!). They had every human reason to resent their captors, and in fact for a time Corrie did. But God's love won out, and by God's grace they were able to love their fellow prisoners and even pray for their Nazi captors. Due to fleas in their barracks which kept the guards away, they were able to hold Bible Studies and worship services freely. Betsie or Corrie would read their little Dutch Bible and then translate into German. Others would translate from the Dutch and German into Italian, Polish, French, Hungarian, and several other languages, so that all the prisoners in their barracks could understand the Word of God in her own language. Despite their surroundings, the book painted a beautiful mental picture of these times huddled around their little Bible ~ so many women from so many different backgrounds and walks of life, praising God together in so many different languages! In their pre-captive lives they would have never mingled together as they did while in the concentration camp.

Sadly, Betsie died from illness at Ravensbruck. Three days later Corrie was released, many years later finding out that her release was due to "clerical error". The week after she was released, all the women at Ravensbruck her age and older were gassed. For 30 years after her release, Corrie told anyone who would listen about God's love and forgiveness. She traveled the world with this message.


The movie is rated PG and was very well done for family viewing. It was never graphic, but often gave a sense of the horror of what was happening at the camps by what was heard off camera, or by comments made by the actors. The beginning of the movie was a bit slow for our kids, and we did fast forward through some "talking" parts. We have read other books about people's endurance, bravery, and even escape during the Nazi domination of Europe, but this one stands out because of its strong christian worldview, and the message of redemption through Jesus Christ. ONLY Jesus could grant those who suffered under the Nazis the power to forgive. What a powerful message to share with our children!