Knox the Fox will be sharing a three-week journey across Europe with Leah and Tony Cross and their friends.
Before boarding the Avalon River cruise, Leah and Tony spent four days in Amsterdam, with the main goal to visit the home of Corrie ten Boom in Haarlem, a 25-mile train ride west of Amsterdam.
Corrie ten Boom was a Christian Dutch watchmaker who was arrested by the Nazis for hiding Jews in her home during the Holocaust. In the gallery pictures taken by Leah, we are able to understand not only the love the ten Boom family had for their neighbors but the risk they undertook to try and save them. The family provided a hiding place in their house for the Jews and others who were being hunted by the Nazi regime. After being betrayed, the ten Boom family was arrested on February 28, 1944.
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- Store front is on lower level and rest of house is behind and above
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- Alley to the left: persons in need would approach at the side
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- Church: they could hear the bells ring the time and know how much time had passed in hiding
Casper, Betsie, Willem and Christiaan ten Boom died in Nazi concentration camps.
Corrie ten Boom was imprisoned in Ravensbruck, a concentration camp exclusively for women in northern Germany. An estimated 132,000 women were held in the camp during the war with only 15% being Jewish and more than 80% being political prisoners like ten Boom. It is unknown exactly how many died, but there are estimates of up to 90,000 having died at the camp.
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- Entrance to hiding place
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- Wall torn to show how narrow space was: six adults and belongings had to fit
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- Location where ration stamps were hidden; she would get more than her share so she could give to families in need
After her release, she traveled the world to share her message of God’s love and forgiveness, visiting over 60 countries in more than 30 years.
Corrie ten Boom left us with a truth to remember: “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.”
She wrote The Hiding Place about the very location visited during this first installment of Knox’s European trip with the Cross group. Next week, we will continue to share their adventure across Europe.
Knox the Fox loves to share your trips so share yours with susan@knoxtntoday.com.