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Amsterdam has the Anne Frank House. Haarlem has the Corrie Ten Boom Museum.
During World War II, many Jews knew of a hiding place in Haarlem…19 Barteljorisstraat, the site of the Ten Boom family’s watchmaking business. With the comings and goings of the business’ many customers, it was the perfect hiding place since it did not arouse suspicion.
Corrie, the youngest of the four Ten Boom children, the first female licensed as a watchmaker in Holland and a devout Christian, realized the horrors that were coming to pass in the Netherlands and decided that she and her family had the opportunity to help those in need.
Arriving in Haarlem, I made my way to the Corrie Ten Boom museum near the Grote Markt. Standing in the alley, I watched the tour guides arrive and enter the museum and other tourists approach and wait patiently behind me in line. As the clock on nearby St. Bavo’s church chimed the top of the hour, we were escorted into the museum and up the stairs into the Ten Boom’s former living room.
I knew that this was an important museum. I knew that Jews had hidden here in this home, but among those in my group, I was the only person who had not read Corrie’s book, “The Hiding Place” nor did I really know the story behind it.
Our tour guide narrated a tale for half an hour, detailing Corrie’s childhood, the impending Holocaust and how the family came to assist those in need. We moved into Corrie’s bedroom and observed the secret room behind the false wall which served to hide as many as seven people at a time, including Jews and members of the Dutch underground. Additional refugees would stay with the Ten Booms for a few hours or a few days until another “safe house” could be located for them.
Corrie, the ringleader of the underground network, spent much of her time searching for those in need and for those who would take them in and care for them. It is estimated that approximately 800 lives were saved by the Ten Boom family and their friends.
As we moved throughout the rooms of the museum, we were witness to many photographs and personal items and learned that the family, were eventually betrayed by an informant. As a result of the betrayal, the entire family was arrested and imprisoned, in Scheveningen Prison and Ravensbruck concentration camp. Sadly, Corrie was the only survivor of the experience. After a clerical error resulted in her release, Corrie returned to the Netherlands and decided to continue the ministry that she and her sister Betsy started while in the concentration camp.
Setting up a rehabilitation center in Bloemendaal for concentration camp survivors and the jobless Dutch who had previously collaborated with the Germans, she continued to assist those in need. Returning to Germany in 1946, she then traveled the world as a public speaker, appearing in more than 60 countries, wrote many books and finally emigrated to Placentia, California before her death at 91 years of age.
The museum, which has been refurbished to appear as it did in the 1940’s, was probably the most humbling and inspiring places I have ever visited. Though quite small and only open on certain days, it was certainly worth the 15 minute train ride from Amsterdam Central Station, the 15 minute walk from Haarlem Central Station and will be worth the $6.99 purchase price of the Kindle book “The Hiding Place” so that I can learn more about this fascinating woman.
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Corrie Ten Boom Museum
- https://www.corrietenboom.com/en/the-museum
- Address: Barteljorisstraat 19, 2011 RA Haarlem, Holland
- Hours: April 1 through October 31, Tuesday through Saturday. English tours at 1000, 1130, 1330 and 1500. Tours in Dutch at 1030, 1200, 1400 and 1530.
- Hours: November 1 through March 30, Tuesday through Saturday. English tours at 1100, 1230, 1430. Tours in Dutch at 1130, 1300 and 1500.
- Admission: free, donations accepted at the end of the tour.
- How To Get There: From Amsterdam, take the train (15 minutes) from Amsterdam Centraal Station to Haarlem Central Station. From From Haarlem Central Station, it is a 10-15 minute walk. Leave the station by the door marked with the word “Centrum”. Turn right out of the station. Walk straight to Kruisweg Street. Turn left and head to the Grote Markt. Continue on this street until you reach the museum’s address. Wait in the alley at the entrance door until the tour guide allows the group to enter. The museum asks that no one wait in the adjacent Ten Boom Jewelry store.
