CHAPTER 5: INVASION

As the war between England, France and Germany wages, the ten Booms wait in
tense anticipation to learn if Holland will join or remain neutral. When the Prime
Minister announces over the evening radio that Holland will remain neutral, Father
angrily turns off the set. He believes that giving people false hope is wrong, but his
anger quickly turns to his normal gentleness. Father ten Boom believes that even
though Holland may be beaten, God never can be. Five hours later that night, the
family awakens to the sound of explosions and huddle together, praying for Holland,
the injured that night and for the Queen. Betsie even prays for the Germans flying
in the planes above their heads, because they are caught up in a terrible evil. When
Corrie has a vision that she, Betsie, her father, Pickwick, Toos, Willem and Peter are
being taken away in an old wagon, Betsie tells her that God sometimes shows
people the future to tell them that he is still holds control.
For five days, Holland fights against the invading German forces, while the
townspeople gather around the Beje for prayer and comfort during this fraught
time. There is an unusual surge of community feeling as people follow the radios
instructions to board up windows. A few nights later, the family learns that the
queen has left Holland and in the morning everyone enters the streets to discuss
this unwelcome news. When they learn that Holland has surrendered, father
comforts a distraught teenager who insists that he never would have given up.
Father ten Boom tells him that that is good because Holland has a battle in front of
it.
The first few months of occupation brings uncomfortable but not unbearable
change. The presence of German troops unsettles the family, as does the tone of
superiority, which soldiers take when they come to buy watches. The shop does well
in the first year of war with all the commotion of soldiers and no new merchandise.
Additional measures include the introduction of a 10:00 P.M. curfew, identity cards
which had to be shown at any time, and the ration system. Newspapers cease to
relay real news, giving glowing reports of German victory and denunciations of
political opposition. Although the Germans demand seizure of all radios, the family
keeps the old radio and turns in the portable one. Corrie feels bad for lying, but
knows that the true reports, although disheartening, are necessary to hear.
Although using the airport as a base for offensive air raids against England, German
fighters occasionally face English retaliation over Haarlem. During such a raid,
Corrie hears Betsie stirring in the kitchen and joins her. When she returns to her
room, Corrie is shocked to find shrapnel in her bed and runs to Betsie who tells her
that God was protecting her.
As the occupation becomes more militant, the ten Booms are ashamed that so
many Dutchmen willingly participate in the worsening anti-Semitism. The National
Socialist Bond is a growing quisling organization, or one that collaborates with the
occupying enemy force. The NSB provides incentives to join including more food,
clothing and good jobs and housing, although many join out of conviction.
Increasing discrimination against Jews includes exclusion from restaurants and other

businesses and the burning of a synagogue. Families, like the Kans from the
competing watch shop, simply disappear. As Corrie and her father continue their
daily walks, they are startled to see so many people wearing yellow stars of David,
the identification marks imposed by Germans. When in November 1941 Germans
vandalize ten Booms neighbors store, Weils Furriers, the family takes action by
sheltering Mr. Weil in their home. They need to warn his wife who is visiting a sister
in Amsterdam not to come home. However, because private telephones are
disconnected and public are bugged, the ten Booms call upon Willem for aid. Willem
and Tines son twenty-two-year-old son Kik escorts Mr. Weil to safety. This is the
beginning of Corries work in the Dutch underground, which worries her because of
the stories she has heard about methods in the underground, which include
violence, destruction and lies, all sins according to Christian teaching. She wonders
how a Christian should act when evil is in power.
A month later, Corrie and father come across the man nicknamed the Bulldog,
wearing a yellow star and strangely without his beloved dogs. Worried about the
meaning of this absence, Corrie, Betsie and father decide to visit the Bulldog man to
help him if they can. At the Bulldogs house, the three learn that his name is Harry
de Vries and ask him about his pets. In tears, Harry tells them that he poisoned
them because he is a Jew and could be taken at any time. Although Harry has
converted to Christianity and his wife Cato is a Christian, he has no protection
against the Nazis. To comfort this grieving man, Father asks if he and his daughter
can be his walking companion instead. Harry wants to avoid this danger for the ten
Booms and agrees to visit the Beje after dark, of course. He and his wife become
nightly visitors, enjoying lively discussions with Casper ten Boom about the Jewish
theological texts, which were left by the rabbi of Haarlem before he disappeared.
In the spring of 1942, as arrests become more frequent, Corrie begins taking
deliveries to their Jewish customers. On such a visit, she meets an old Dutch family,
the Heemstras. As Dr. Heemstra tucks in his children, Corrie is struck by the reality
that this family could be taken away by soldiers at any moment. Immediately, Corrie
utters a prayer, in which she offers herself to the service to Gods chosen people,
however, whenever and wherever. As she prays, Corries sees the vision of her
family being taken away in the ominous wagon without any idea where they are
going.

Analysis:
Corrie begins chapter six in a tense tone, as she and her family await the
announcement of war. Therefore, it is an anticlimax when the Prime Minister
announces that Holland will remain neutral. This anticlimax shifts dramatically later
than night when Corrie and Betsie hear the telling sounds of explosions. Corrie
repeats the pattern of rising and falling action later, when she describes the initial
ease of the occupation for non-Jewish Dutch citizens, which grows harsher over the
next months. The climaxes and anticlimaxes leave Corrie feeling emotionally
exhausted. Finally, Corrie escapes the vicissitudes of the German Occupation, by
beginning a personal war against Nazism.

In order to establish the atmosphere of the occupied Holland, Corrie relates the
measures taken by the German army. The list continues to grow, building a kind of
prison around the residents of Haarlem. By increments, Holland loses its freedom.
Corries narrative style records changes like the hour of curfew, conveying a sense
of strangulation. As Nazi power strengthens in Holland, Corrie feels the need for
action.
In addition to the harshening occupation, Corrie gains new point-of-view, which
leads to her Underground involvement. She meets several Jewish individuals,
including Harry de Vries and the Heemstras, whose misfortunes make Hitlers antiSemitism very real to Corrie. Although Father always respected the Jews as Gods
chosen people, Corrie gains an appreciation for the deep religious devotion of her
new friends. Knowing Jewish individuals leads Corrie to realize the growing danger
for Jews in Haarlem, whose lives hang by a thread.

The mood continues to darken during the war years. Although Corrie and Betsie
experience the military side of WWII infrequently, they feel the force of the war in
Haarlem. With the exception of the shrapnel episode, Corrie experiences war by the
growing self-interest of her neighbors and the cruelty to her new Jewish friends. The
Nationalist Socialist Bond members show the ten Booms the painful effects of
individuals betraying their country. Corrie narrates the early war years in an
episodic manner, which encapsulates the key events for the ten Boom family.
Through Corries experience, she sees how God intervenes for his purposes. Fate
plays a large role in Corries life, by guiding her decisions according to the plan for
Corries life. Fate displays its power in seemingly small measures. For instance,
Corries trip to the kitchen for a cup of coffee during an air raid saves her life.
According to Corrie, God saves her life for a greater purpose, which becomes clear
by the end of the chapter. Corrie realizes that her purpose during the war is to help
Jews escape extermination by the German forces.