Summer reading usually sucks. I love reading, and I'm proud to say it. But I'm sure that's pretty evident since I have a blog about books. But anyway, that's not the point. So far, summer reading hasn't sucked for me. So now I'm going to make you a bit jealous that your summer reading isn't as great as mine and give you the inside scoop on Cornelia ten Boom's The Hiding Place.For those of you who know everything about world history, you would know that a hiding place was a secret room in which Jews were hidden during the Holocaust in Europe. For those of you who fall asleep during history, now you know. This Holocaust drama captures the life of a one Cornelia ten Boom, who is sent to prison when it is believed that Jews are hidden in her home.
The Hiding Place creates a portrait of life not in the hiding place or in a Jewish concentration camp or even a Japanese camp. It doesn't try to capture the violent side of the war. It captures the war within the war - the war about religion. (The story discusses the Christian faith often so it may not appeal to all of you.)
Since you have an entire new perspective on the Holocaust, you can learn that it wasn't only the Jews who were treated like animals. Sure, the people who hid them weren't always killed. But they were imprisoned, starved, housed in the poorest conditions, and worked until they keeled over.
Miss ten Boom decided to turn her plight into something great. Now obviously, we all don't have the opportunity to be taken into custody by the Nazis, be released, and teach people valuable lessons from our suffering. I mean, doesn't everyone get to do that? No. But, to be a tad of a lecture, the point of the book is to turn everyday hardships into a gift for God.
Personally, I find books about the Holocaust fascinating. So, even if you're not into non-fiction or religion, it might do you some good to read this book. Might even change your life.
