The Hiding Place is the autobiography of the first half of Corrie ten Boom’s life and is the ultimate story of love and forgiveness. Corrie and Betsie ten Boom are middle-aged spinsters working in their father’s watchmaker shop in pre-WWII Holland. Their uneventful lives are disrupted when the Nazis occupy their country. Caught hiding Jews in their home—a hiding place created behind the wall of Corrie’s bedroom—they are sent to a concentration camp, where their faith in God keeps them from despair and bitterness. Betsie eventually dies, but Corrie survives, and after the war, must learn to love and forgive her former captors.

This true story is a window into the lives of ordinary Christian people capable of extraordinary measures when enabled by God. When imprisoned in Ravensbruck, the sisters suffer under the persecution of the Nazis and yet see hope in every situation in which they find themselves. One particularly moving event takes place when they first arrive and are forced to remove their clothes. As they watch a concentration camp guard beat a prisoner, Corrie cries, “Oh, the poor woman!” Betsie says, “Yes, may God forgive her.” Corrie realizes Betsie’s prayer is for the Nazi guard!

Corrie ten Boom is completely honest and transparent in describing her life. Her struggles with bitterness and hatred are not covered up. A real person experiencing the worst conditions possible she finds it impossible in her own power to forgive and love her enemies. Betsie is a real encouragement to Corrie – to let go of her hatred, to spread the word of God’s love and forgiveness. Before Betsie is set free by the Lord (passes away) she encourages Corrie to open a home for displaced people after the war. Corrie is miraculously set free-she is the only one of six family members who survives the imprisonment. She makes her way home where she opens a rest home and ministers to those who suffered so much at the hands of the Nazis.

The Hiding Place is the story of an unremarkable people who have faith in a remarkable God! It shows how faith in the Lord allows a believer to keep moving forward even in the middle of inhumane conditions, and then, how God uses the worst situations in our lives to bring Him glory.

Corrie’s life was a ministry of speaking all over the world to bring God’s message of the love and peace that comes from forgiveness. She was a living example of her belief that "the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do."