"The true horror of occupation came over us only slowly. During the first year of German rule there were only minor attacks on Jews in Holland. A rock through the window of a Jewish-owned store. An ugly word scrawled on the wall of a synagogue. It was as though they were trying us, testing the temper of the country. How many Dutchmen would go along with them? ...Adventure and anguish, horror and heaven, were just around the corner, and we did not know."
This is a true story. A true story of terror and persecution, torture and imprisonment and death.. But it's also a true story of hope and faith and love. So much love. I can't remember if I had read this book during middle school or highschool, but whether or not I did, rereading it brought as much shock and as big a reality check as I could ever expect. The faith of Betsie, Corrie's sister, even as she lay sick and dying on a flea infested straw mattress shared with 9 other women, is inspiring and even annoying as I read through all that she and Corrie went through being transferred over and over to a worse and worse concentration camp. Their humiliation, punishments, martyrdom... so much hate. It was incredible that even these women who only harbored Jews were punished alongside God's chosen people with as much hate as anyone could muster. So much death. So much sickness and terror. About a week after Betsie died in the concentration camp from illness, Corrie was released. The kicker? Corrie's release was a clerical error. The next week all of the women Corrie's age were sent to the gas chambers and killed. I can't begin to comprehend the continued miracles written about in this book. I hope that you read it for yourself. I hope that you read it and take a good look at your own life and realize how lucky we really are.
10 out of 10.
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