Elisabeth ten Boom (19 August 1885 – 16 December 1944) was a Dutch woman, the daughter of a watchmaker, who suffered persecution under the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

regime in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, including incarceration in

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a German concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure o ...

, where she died aged 59. The daughter of

Casper ten Boom Casper ten Boom (18 May 1859 – 9 March 1944) was a Dutch Christian who helped many Jews and resisters escape the Nazis during the Holocaust of World War II. He is the father of Betsie and Corrie ten Boom, who also aided the Jews and were sen ...

, she is one of the leading characters in '' The Hiding Place'', a book written by her sister

Corrie ten Boom Cornelia Arnolda Johanna "Corrie" ten Boom (15 April 1892 – 15 April 1983) was a Dutch watchmaker and later a Christian writer and public speaker, who worked with her father, Casper ten Boom, her sister Betsie ten Boom and other family member ...

about the family′s experiences during

. Nicknamed Betsie, she suffered from

pernicious anemia Pernicious anemia is a type of vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, a disease in which not enough red blood cells are produced due to the malabsorption of vitamin B12. Malabsorption in pernicious anemia results from the lack or loss of intrinsic fa ...

from her birth. The oldest of five Ten Boom children, she did not leave the family and marry, but remained at home until

. She is a

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...

Congenital pernicious anemia

Betsie ten Boom suffered from a case of

. This case is believed to be caused by a malfunction of the

gastric juices Gastric acid, gastric juice, or stomach acid is a digestive fluid formed within the stomach lining. With a pH between 1 and 3, gastric acid plays a key role in digestion of proteins by activating digestive enzymes, which together break down the ...

of intrinsic factor during the nine weeks before birth. Her illness prevented her from bearing children, so she chose, at a young age, not to marry.

Career and education

Betsie ten Boom was educated in the local primary and secondary school until the age of 15. She remained at home to work with her father in his watch shop, where she served as the bookkeeper. She also cooked for their family. Her younger sister Corrie later took over the bookkeeping role when Betsie caught

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

. Betsie then began housekeeping and continued to do so until her Nazi detention.

1940-1944

The ten Boom family belonged to the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

and believed strongly in the equality of all people before God. Betsie’s brother Willem ten Boom was a minister, and the ten Boom sisters (Betsie, Nollie, and Corrie) had been active in charitable work before the war. During the

Nazi occupation of the Netherlands Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of Fall Gelb (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces surrendered. The Dutch government and the royal family re ...

, the family began to hide numerous

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and resisters in their home and built a secret room to protect them. In 1944, the ten Boom family and other people at the house, about 30 in all, were arrested for their resistance activities and taken to

Scheveningen Scheveningen is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict (''wijk'') of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is po ...

prison. The six Jews in hiding at the house were not discovered and survived, with the help of other Resistance workers.

became ill and died ten days later at the prison. Willem, Nollie, and a nephew were released. In June 1944, Betsie ten Boom and her sister Corrie were sent to

. Her strong faith in God kept her from depression throughout her life and especially within the camps. Corrie told of how Betsie reached out to help others and helped Corrie to see the best in everything, no matter what the circumstances. Before her death, Betsie claimed she experienced three visions from God about what she and Corrie were to do after their release. Her first vision was of a house for former prisoners. The second was to own a concentration camp where they could teach Germans to learn to love again. The third was that they would be released before the New Year. All three of these visions came true. Betsie ten Boom died in Ravensbruck on 16 December 1944, at the age of 59. Her sister Corrie was released due to a clerical error and went on to set up the projects that she had seen in her visions, including traveling the world to speak about her faith. Betsie and her father, Casper, were honored by the State of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in 2008 as

. Her sister Corrie had been honored previously.

Bibliography

*Corrie ten Boom with

John and Elizabeth Sherrill John Lewis Sherrill (August 2, 1923, Covington, Tennessee - December 2, 2017) and Elizabeth "Tib" Sherrill (born February 14, 1928, Hollywood, California) are Christian writers. They have co-authored a number of best-selling books, including: *'' Go ...

The Hiding Place
Guideposts Associates, 1971. , *Corrie ten Boom
In My Father's House
Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 1976.

References

External links

ten Boom MuseumCorrie ten Boom Live
– her activity to save Jews' lives during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Boom, Betsie ten 1885 births 1944 deaths Dutch civilians killed in World War II People from Haarlem Women in World War II Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church People who died in Ravensbrück concentration camp Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps Deaths from pernicious anemia Dutch resistance members Dutch Righteous Among the Nations Dutch people of World War II