Reshaped: Day 15 - Corrie ten Boom
The Turning/Netherlands 1940
Reading Zachariah 2:8-9
Theirs was a simple lifestyle in the quiet village of Haarlem. Corrie lived in a modest home with her father Casper and sister Betsie. The family-run watch shop had seen its 100th year anniversary when dark clouds invaded the Holland skies. Reports of Germany, France, and England at war flooded the family radio more and more.
Dutch soldiers dotted the Haarlem streets. Though the Prime Minister reported that Holland was a neutral territory and would remain untouched by the war, Casper’s gentle blue eyes blazed with fire as he turned off the radio.
“War is coming,” he announced to his daughters. Casper was a wise man with sharp spiritual discernment.
As the days progressed, German soldiers flooded the streets of Haarlem. Along with their presence came anti-Semitic attacks - a rock thrown through a Jewish business owner’s window, ugly graffiti smears on their homes, and signage prohibiting Jews from entering certain businesses.
Aghast at the sight, Casper’s words echoed with eternal truth, “I pity the poor Germans. They have touched the apple of God’s eye.”
Casper & Corrie ten Boom
Dutch soldiers dotted the Haarlem streets. Though the Prime Minister reported that Holland was a neutral territory and would remain untouched by the war, Casper’s gentle blue eyes blazed with fire as he turned off the radio.
“War is coming,” he announced to his daughters. Casper was a wise man with sharp spiritual discernment.
As the days progressed, German soldiers flooded the streets of Haarlem. Along with their presence came anti-Semitic attacks - a rock thrown through a Jewish business owner’s window, ugly graffiti smears on their homes, and signage prohibiting Jews from entering certain businesses.
Aghast at the sight, Casper’s words echoed with eternal truth, “I pity the poor Germans. They have touched the apple of God’s eye.”
Casper & Corrie ten Boom
Question
- Why did Casper seemingly pity the Germans more than the Jews being persecuted?
- How is his response different than our natural response to unjust treatment of the innocent?