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The ten Boom's house was bought by Corrie's Grandfather in the 1800. The ten Booms called this Beje, named after the street on which it was located, Barteljorisstraat. Corrie's grandfather started a prayer group to pray for the Jews, This group lasted over a hundred years.
During WWI the ten Booms felt a responsibility to shelter orphaned children. When Hitler started to issue orders to arrest Jews, the ten Booms felt the responsibility to hide Jews . The ten Booms had saved over 800 Jews, who they felt had the right to live, before the Nazis raided the house. The ten Boom's had prepared for the dreaded raid. They had gotten a European architect to build them a secret room. The builder said “What impossibility what an improbability, unbelievable, unpredictable impossibility! Miss ten Boom, if all houses were constructed like this one, you would see before you a less worried man.” This room was located in Corrie's upstairs bedroom, which gave the Jews more time to hide. The Gestapo arrested everyone in the house, but they could not find the Jews. The ten Booms and about forty others were arrested. |