Stitches and Sew Forth: Second Sat. Sampler - Women of Faith and Courage

Block Two - Corrie ten Boom

Cornelia Arnolda Johanna “Corrie” ten Boom was born April 15, 1892, in Harrlem, Netherlands. She was the youngest child of Casper ten Boom and Johanna Arnolda nee Luitingh. Her father was a watchmaker. Corrie participated in the family business and became a watchmaker herself. In fact, in 1922 she became the first woman to be licensed as a watchmaker in the Netherlands. She lived courageously as she sought to better the lives of so many at the peril of losing her own.

The following information is cited from Wikipedia

Corrie and her family were Calvinist Christians in the Dutch Reformed Church, and their faith inspired them to serve their society, which they did by offering shelter, food and money to those who were in need. Some important tenets of their faith included the fact that the Jews were precious to God and that all people are created equal – powerful motivation for the selfless rescue work she would later become involved in.

Corrie and her sister Betsie opened their home to Jewish refugees and members of the resistance movement, and as a result, they were sought after by the Gestapo and its Dutch counterpart. The refugee work which ten Boom and her sister did became known by the Dutch Resistance, which sent an architect to the ten Boom home to build a secret room for the Jews who were in hiding. Thus the Ten Booms created "The Hiding Place". The secret room was in Corrie's bedroom behind a false wall and would hold 6 people. A ventilation system was installed for the occupants. A buzzer could be heard in the house to warn the refugees to get into the room as quickly as possible during security sweeps through the neighborhood.

Corrie soon became part of the Dutch underground resistance and oversaw a network of smuggling Jews to safe places. All in all, it is estimated that around 800 Jews were saved by Ten Boom's efforts.

On 28 February 1944, a Dutch informant told the Nazis about the ten Booms' work, and the Nazis arrested the entire Ten Boom family. They were sent to Scheveningen Prison when Resistance materials and extra ration cards were found at the home.

Though the Gestapo soon released most of the 30 people they had captured that day, Corrie, Betsie, and their father Casper were held in prison. Casper died ten days later.

Corrie and Betsie were sent from Scheveningen to Herzogenbusch, a political concentration camp (also known as Kamp Vught), and finally to the Ravensbruck concentration camp, a women's labor camp in Germany. There, they held worship services after the hard days at work by using a Bible that they had managed to smuggle in. While they were imprisoned at Ravensbruck, Betsie and her sister began to discuss plans for founding a place of healing after the war. Betsie's health continued to deteriorate, and she died on 16 December 1944 at the age of 59. Before she died, she told Corrie, "There is no pit so deep that He [God] is not deeper still." Twelve days later, Corrie was released. Afterward, she was told that her release was because of a clerical error and that a week later, all the women in her age group were sent to the gas chambers.

After the war, Ten Boom returned to the Netherlands to set up a rehabilitation center in Bloemendaal. She returned to Germany in 1946 and met with and forgave two Germans who had been employed at Ravensbrück, one of whom had been particularly cruel to Betsie. Ten Boom went on to travel the world as a public speaker, appearing in more than 60 countries. She authored many books during this period.

Ten Boom told the story of her family members and their World War II work in her bestselling book, The Hiding Place. In 1977, the 85-year-old Corrie migrated to Placentia, California. In 1978, she suffered two strokes, the first rendered her unable to speak, and the second resulted in paralysis. She died on her 91st birthday, 15 April 1983, after suffering a third stroke. Ten Boom was buried in Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, California.

"The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation."

Corrie ten Boom

For this block you will need:

2) 5 1/2" background squares
2) 5 1/2" brown floral squares
1) 4 1/2" blue print square
1) 2 1/2 x 21" background
1) 2 1/2 x 21" blue print

Sewing:

Four patch units

Sew the 2 1/2" blue and background strips together along the length of the strips.

Press toward the blue print.

Cut 8) 2 1/2" sections from this strip. Sew in sets of 2 to create 4) 4-patch units.

Quarter-square triangle units

Draw a diagonal line on the back of both 5 1/2" background squares.

Place each one with a 5 1/2" brown print square making sure the right sides are together and the outside edges are aligned.

Sew 1/4 inch on each side of the drawn line.

Cut on the line and press toward the brown.

Place two half-square triangles together making sure the right sides are together, the seams run parallel, and the outside edges are aligned as much as possible. (Make sure the brown and the background fabrics are facing each other.)