About 20 minutes outside of Amsterdam is the pretty little town of Haarlem. With its cobbled streets, classic Dutch houses and cosy restaurants, it’s picturesque. And it’s perfect for a wander and coffee in one of the little cafes lining the main square. It holds a secret here though. That of the Corrie Ten Boom house and the amazing story of this remarkable woman.
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About the Corrie ten Boom family
Just off of the main square, down a lovely little Haarlem Street is one of the typical Dutch typical houses. Set above a watch maker’s shop which has been run by the ten Boom family for centuries.
The ten Boom family also lived above the shop. And people would come from all over Holland to have their watches repaired here in the early part of the twentieth century.
Corrie ten Boom, the matriarch of the home became the first female watch repairer in The Netherlands.
As life prospered the ten Boom family bought the house behind the shop and joined the two together. There was an inside staircase in what was originally the outside alleyway.
This arrangement of two different-sized houses created a unique arrangement where the floors of each were at different levels. The perfect set up for hiding people.
The ten Boom home was very sociable and although the family were Christian there were many Jewish people who frequented the shop and became friends of the family. They would be invited in for tea and chat.
Visiting the Corrie Ten Boom house, Haarlem and learning about World War Two
When World War Two struck The Netherlands and life in it became impossible for the Jewish residents there was no question that the ten Booms were going to step in and help.
What started off as helping one or two individuals in need became an organised campaign to save as many people as possible.
More and more people started coming to the ten Boom’s home seeking help from the family. Eventually a false wall in Corrie’s bedroom on the top floor was put in, with the help of the Dutch underground movement.
Made of brick to avoid detection, if the Nazis knocked it would still sound like an outer wall, the space inside could hide six people at a time.
If someone knocked at the door of the home a bell on the ground floor would be pressed which would ring upstairs. This would alert the household that they needed to hide and everything would be taken into the hiding place.
Any plates, cutlery, bedding and any Jews or members of the Dutch resistance would disappear.
The people would have to open the wardrobe and slide back a panel and climb inside.
The members of the household would practice hiding frequently. In the beginning it would take three minutes to hide. They managed to get it down to 60 seconds.
Then the wardrobe door would shut and the house would stay quiet until danger passed.
The ten Boom family helped numerous people survive. Taking them into their home to live and hiding them away if they needed to.
Betrayal to the Nazis
But on 28th February 1944 they were betrayed and the Gestapo came calling.
The system was put into place and the four Jews and two resistance members who were in the home that evening quickly hid in the secret hideaway.
The family were arrested and taken away to be interrogated and the Gestapo, unable to find any secret hideaways, remained in the home waiting for two days.
On the second day the Dutch resistance managed to get two of their members into the house as police guards and help the hideaways escape.
Corrie’s father Casper and sister Betsie both died in a concentration camp.
Due to a clerical error, Corrie was released.
All of the Jewish hideaways from that evening remained undiscovered.
Today’s legacy
Corrie ten Boom made it her life’s mission to tell the world her story. She set up rehabilitation centres to help concentration camp survivors.
Today you can visit the ten Boom house and see the hideaway in Corrie’s bedroom.
Downstairs there is still a jewellers selling watches. It feels like you’ve gone back in time to the 1940s to wander the rooms and learn more about this remarkable family.
We visited as part of our trip to the Netherlands with kids and found it a fascinating place.
Find out more about the Corrie ten Boom house here (visits are free and are in small groups of twenty people – see the notice on the door for times). And read more about our travels in the Netherlands with kids here.
What an incredible story – and sadly not well known at all. Anne Frank was just one of many Jews living in hiding during WW2 and stories like this are important so we don’t forget the vast numbers of people persecuted, it was never just a few 🙁
wow i hadn’t heard her story before. Sounds like a very interesting yet humbling day out x
Such an incredible story, sadly I hadn’t heard of it before but I had read many amazing stories of good people hiding those in need.
That’s really quite fascinating! x
What a fascinating visit, I’m so glad it’s open to the public so we never forget the horrors of the holocaust and the immense bravery of those who helped people hide and escape.
Wow, that is amazing You were right we have visited Anne Franks house, but not here. I do wonder what would happen nowadays
A fabulous story! I’ve been to Anne Frank’s, but I’d love to go to this house if we visit the Netherlands again soon.
Wow what an incredible family – I have to admit I hadn’t heard of them before.
What a fantastic story, love these undiscovered places x
I’ve never heard this story before – it’s amazing. What brave, kind people they must have been. Thank you for sharing this.
What an amazing story, I’d never heard of them before xx
What a fantastic story. Their bravery is humbling. Thank you for sharing their story with us
Goodness, I did learn about Corrie Ten Boom at school but had forgotten all about her. What a family, and what a story of courage and of doing what is right despite your overwhelming fears.
Wow what a fantastic story, I’d never heard of them before
That is an amazing story. Looks like a beautiful place too, the streets are so clean!
Wow, what a story – seems a shame they were overshadowed by Anne Frank.
oh wow, story like this make me super sad that life was like this for so many 🙁
oh i need to read this story what a great find
These stories always make me feel inferior – I wonder if I would ever have their bravery.
Surprised that plenty of the comments haven’t heard about Corrie Ten Boom – I remember learning about her in early secondary school and becoming obsessed with finding out more about her. Such a sad story that she lost her family but we also need to be thankful that she managed to survive to tell the true tale of the atrocities
Oh wow what a story. My daughter is really fascinated by WWII due to her imminent History GCSE. I just read this to her – we are blown away with stories like this. Kaz x
wow sounds intersting but scary in a way