In the Camps
After the raid by the Gestapo in the Beje, Corrie and her family were taken to the Scheveningen prison (left) on Febuary 29, 1944. Casper ten Boom was confronted with a question asking him whether he knew that he could die for helping Jews, and he replied, "It would be an honor to give my life for God's ancient people." He died ten days after coming to Scheveningen at 84 years old. About two months later, while Corrie was in solitary confinement, everyone was talking amongst each other without fear of the gaurds, for they were at Adolf Hitler's birthday party. Corrie cried out, "Betsie ten Boom! Nollie van Woerden! Willem ten Boom!" Soon she heard answers. "Nollie van Woerden was released more than a month ago." She also found out that her nephew, Peter, Willem, and some of her fellow underground workers had been released as well. Betsie, however, was still in cell 312.
In June 1944, the Scheveningen prisoners heard orders from the gaurds to collect all their possessions and get ready to evacuate. Corrie felt that the invasion of Holland had begun, and the prisoners were being emptied and taken elsewhere. That "elsewhere" would be the Vught transit/ concentration camp, Herzogenbosch, in Vught, the Netherlands. While at Vught, Corrie was assigned a job in a Phillips factory. Corrie's job was to "measure small glass rods and arrange them in piles according to lengths." On the third day in the factory, Corrie's foreman came and pointed out her interest in what was being made there. He then took her to more enjoyable work at the opposite end of the barrack. Betsie stayed in the sleeping barracks each day.
In early September, 1944, Corrie and Betsie were again gathering their belongings and readying themselves for another move, this time to the notorious Ravensbruck women's concentration camp (above) in Germany. Betsie and Corrie were assigned to the Siemens factory where they were forced to push "a heavy handcart to a railroad siding where they unloaded large metal plates from a boxcar and wheeled them to a receiving gate at the factory." This went on for weeks. When call-ups for the Siemens factory stopped, Betsie and Corrie were put to work elsewhere. All work the sisters did was tiring and painful. In getting permanent barracks, Betsie thought she and Corrie must pray and thank God. They thanked Him that there was no inspection, that they were together, that they were stuffed with hundreds of other women so they could hear His word. Betsie even made Corrie thank God for the fleas, creatures which Corrie could see no use for.
For a while Betsie had had a terrible cough, which by November began to bring up blood. Once her fever finally registered over the required 104 degrees, she was taken to the hospital prosper. Betsie was assigned to the "knitting brigade", a group of the weakest prisoners who did the knitting all day. She worked at the tables in the middle of the barracks. One day, there had been confusion about sock sizes for the knitting group. They finally had to ask the supervisor to come and settle the dispute, but she wouldn't dare to go into the barracks, nor would the gaurds. It was all because of the fleas. The creatures which Corrie could see no use for had a purpose. Because of the lack of watch over the barracks, Corrie and Betsie had the freedom to take out their Bible at almost any hour and preach the word of God to their fellow prisoners.
The week before Christmas, Betsie woke up unable to move her arms and legs. She was put onto a stretcher and wheeled to the hospital. Around noontime, Corrie went to the center room to request permission to visit Betsie in the hospital. The gaurd gave her a pass, but the nurse at the hospital would still not let Corrie in. So she went around to the window to sneak in and see Betsie. For a second the two sisters exchanged a few words. Corrie then returned to the barracks, and she could not get permission to leave the rest of the day. After roll call the following morning, Corrie went to the hospital, without permission. She went to the window and peered in through the glass. She could see two doctors directly between her and Betsie. They finally moved to the head and foot of the bed, and Corrie could see a limp, naked, and lifeless figure lying on it. It took her a moment to realize that that figure was Betsie.
During morning roll call three days after Betsie's death, the words "Ten Boom, Cornelia!" boomed over the loudspeaker. When the siren blew for dismissal, the gaurd signaled Corrie to follow her. She walked behind the gaurd into the administration barracks. She got behind a line of several prisoners standing before a large desk. An officer seated behind the desk stamped a paper, gave it to the woman in front of him, and told her, "Entlassen!" (Released) He did the same for Corrie as he handed her a paper with her name and birthdate on it. At the top in large, bold letters: CERTIFICATE OF DISCHARGE. Corrie was finally free.