The Beje
In 1837, Corrie's grandfather opened his watch shop in Haarlem. After he died, the family moved there from Amsterdam so Casper, Corrie's father, could join his mother in working at the watch shop. The move was around October 1892, when Corrie was six months old. In 1944, Corrie, Betsie, and their father were the only family members living in the Beje. Their mother had died on October 17, 1921, and Nollie and Willem got married and had families of their own. During the time of the Nazi invasion, Corrie, Betsie, and Casper took in Jews to hide them from persecution. In Corrie's bedroom, a fake wall was built out from the real one by three feet. In this space, the Jews would hide when practice drills were run and when, eventually, the shop would be searched. On Febuary 28, 1944, the Gestapos (German secret police officers) raided the Beje and interrogated Corrie and her family. Luckily, all four Jews and both underground workers living there at the time found their way to Corrie's bedroom and into the hiding space. They later escaped, but Corrie and her family weren't so lucky. After hours of questioning, Corrie, Betsie, Casper, Willem, Nollie, Corrie's nephew Peter, and many underground workers who unknowingly entered the ten Boom house that day were arrested and taken to the Scheveningen prison, where Casper died a few days later.