Frayed But Not Torn

The Conclusion of – A Father’s Legacy

Netherlands- 1944

Under the boot of German occupation the Netherlands quickly changed.  The carefree and peaceful life of each Hollander had been drastically effected.

Their freedoms, country, peaceful existence, and common humanities had been replaced with oppression, harsh restrictions, cruelties, and unrelenting persecution.

Horror’s stood in common place as the Dutch were forced to bend to the will of Hitler’s reign.  Fear governed as disbelief became the mindset.  And all to soon their choices became few, and those that were before them were hard and disheartening.

As persecution towards the Jewish Dutchman increased the non-Jewish Dutch were faced to make decisions. For some the choice was not to become involved.  Others chose to profit from the plight of the Jewish people.  And yet others chose to risk freedom and death to provide protection for their fellow man who just happened to be Jewish.  The ten Boom’s choose the latter.

Separated but Not Broken

A Continuance of – A Father’s Legacy

Scheveningen Prison

On February 28, 1944  the Nazi’s stormed the humble watchmakers shop.  It marked the beginning of the end for several of the ten Boom family as they were forced to walk the road towards imprisonment and/or death.  

At the prodding of gunpoint, six family members were marched through the streets on that dreadful day. Six were paraded into the local jail and subjected to hours of endless questioning.  And six found a cold and sleepless night as they laid on thin mats lining the hard jail floor.

On February 29th, the six were loaded onto a bus and transported to Scheveningen prison and again subjected to hours of drilling interrogations. When all tactics had been performed and the questioning finally came to an end, the six were divided and led in separate directions…some to never be seen again.

As Casper’s daughters, Betsie, Nollie and Corrie, were being led out of the detainment room, Corrie turned and gazed desperately at her nephew Peter, her brother Willem and father Casper. In her words she gives us a glimpse of the terror that the moment held for her. The moment where she began to realize that she may never see her loved ones again.

“Father!” I cried suddenly, “God be with you!” His head turned toward me. The harsh overhead light flashed from his glasses.  ”And with you… my daughters.”

I turned and followed the others.. behind me the door slammed closed.  “And with you. And with you! Oh father, when will I see you next?” Corrie ten Boom

Family Bonds

A Continuance of – A Father’s Legacy

Nollie (ten Boom) van Woerden:  Second daughter born to Casper and Cornelia ten Boom, is the featured family member in this segment of A Father’s Legacy.  Before we learn about her, I thought it appropriate to refresh our understanding of the hostile conditions that were taking place in occupied Holland.  Conditions that showcased the good… and…bad in mankind.

“If I go home today, tomorrow I will open my door to anyone who knocks for help.”  Casper ten Boom

Recap

On May 10, 1940 the Netherlands were invaded by German forces.  Five days later Holland fell to “Herr Wolf,” the Chancellor of Germany.  The Dutch armies unconditionally surrendered and their government and royal family went into exile as they fled to London.  As Germany took over Holland, a minority of the Dutch supported the occupying forces while an active resistance slowly began to grow.

Two years later in May 1942, the Nazi leaders ordered the Dutch Jews to wear the Star of David.  This identifiable symbol was a calculated maneuver on the German’s part in order to easily locate  the Jewish people in the crowds.   Holland’s excellent civil records made the process of  identification easy and with the assistance of the Dutch police and civil service the Germans deported the majority of the country’s Jews to concentration camps.

Most of Holland’s public, and for that matter, Dutch Jews, could not believe that the Jewish people would be subjected to genocide and sent to death camps.

Cords of Faith

A Continuance of – A Father’s Legacy

In my last post, A Father’s Legacy, I shared information pertaining to the ten Boom family.  Specifically focusing on Willem and Casper ten Boom, a father and son whose unwavering christian faith became the tap root in supporting a strong and resolute family tree.

Adolf Hitler

Most of us are familiar with Casper’s daughter, Corrie ten Boom and the legacy that she has left to the world.  I will feature a post on her later, but I thought it fitting to share accounts of other family members who also demonstrated courageous faith under deadly persecution.

Patriotism is VERBOTEN!

Adolf Hitler saw the Dutch as part of the Aryan (master) race and wanted them integrated into High Germany.  In order to achieve this goal the German occupiers were to dissolve the Dutch as a nation. With Hollands government and military dismantled, and Germany’s flag flying high, they   began the process of integration by forbidding the Dutch to show any signs of patriotism.  In essence, Holland had fallen into a shallow grave and Germany was busy shoving  dirt over top of it.

A Father’s Legacy

Fall of 1939 was the start of one of the deadliest conflicts in human history.  Its’ massive death of both civilian and military personnel resulted in over 70 million fatalities.

On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland and declarations of war were soon made by France and most of the countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth.  World War II had begun sweeping its way through Europe and was systematically approaching the Netherlands.

Meanwhile in Haarlem Netherlands, an industrious city known for its beautiful tulips, silks, and beer, lived a devoted christian family of the surname ten Boom.

Ancestral roots of the ten Boom’s had settled deep in the land of the Dutch for hundreds of years and all that they knew, lived, and loved had been carefully handed down through the generations before them.  Little did they know that the Nazi horde, which was quickly approaching, would violently attempt to destroy the fabric that held them together by unraveling the world that they knew.