Betsie ten Boom

Betsie’s name is the lesser known of the ten Boom sisters, but her determination and what she experienced is a similar tale of courage that must be told.

Betsie was born on 19th August 1885 with pernicious anaemia and was seven years older than her sister Corrie. With her weakened immune system, after her education, Betsie stayed at home and ran the busy household at the Beje after her mum died.

Whilst she wasn’t active outside of the home during the Nazi invasion of Holland, she did keep everyone who passed through the home fed and watered and was a welcoming host.

After the raid on February 28th 1944, Betsie was separated from Corrie at Scheveningen Prison, they were only brought together again briefly for the reading of their father’s will along with their siblings Nollie and Willem. This was a precious time for the ten Booms to have together after their ordeals and separation. A while after that meeting, the sisters reunited as they were moved to Vught near 's-Hertogenbosch, a concentration camp for political prisoners. Writing in The Hiding Place, Corrie recalls:

Together we climbed onto the train, together found seats in a crowded compartment, together wept tears of gratitude. The four months in Scheveningen had been our first separation in 53 years; it seemed to me that I could bear whatever happened with Betsie beside me.

What is remarkable about Betsie is her positivity and determination that even in such a horrible, hate filled place, she could see potential, she accepted the challenge and whats more, she was the encourager for Corrie, who didn’t always see things the way her sister did. This is reflected in her statement to Corrie after they were inducted and given a torrent of rules by the guards in the camp:

“Corrie, if people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love! We must find the way, you and I, no matter how long it takes.” I saw a grey uniform and a visored hat; Betsie saw a wounded human being. And I wondered, not for the first time, what sort of a person she was, this sister of mine, what kind of road she followed while I trudged beside her.

A few months later, they were taken to Ravensbrück concentration camp 56 miles north of Berlin. Despite the dread of what awaited them, it was Betsie who thanked God for them being together, for the Bible they managed to smuggle in and even for the fleas that infested their beds. Because of the pests, the guards weren’t so keen on checking their barracks and so the Bible studies were able to be conducted by the ten Booms with no interference from the guards.

One day, Betsie and Corrie were out levelling some rough ground inside the camp wall. As Betsie wasn’t strong, she couldn’t put much on her shovel and when the guards saw her efforts, they made fun of her and then beat her with a whip. Naturally, this enraged Corrie who rushed at the guard before Betsie stopped her, pleading for her to keep calm and keep working. When looking at the mark the whip left, Betsie said, “Don’t look at it, Corrie. Look at Jesus only.”

The harsh treatment, working long days outdoors, 4am starts and lack of nutritious food led to Betsie becoming weaker as winter began. No longer able to do any duties, Betsie was taken to the camp hospital. One morning, Corrie had sneaked around to the hospital window after roll call to see her, only to find she had passed away.

“There lay Betsie, her eyes closed as if in sleep, her face full and young. The care lines, the grief lines, the deep hallows of hunger and disease were simply gone. In front of me was Betsie of Haarlem, happy and at peace.”

Betsie died in Ravensbrück on 16th December 1944, aged 59. The last words she had spoken to Corrie before she died, were, “You must tell people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still. They will listen to us Corrie, because we have been here.” This indeed was the motivation Corrie needed, as she travelled to over 60 countries and wrote her books, doing just what Betsie had encouraged her to do.