The Hiding Place

 The Hiding Place By Corrie Ten Boom

When I first purchased this book I actually went off the cover and just assumed it was another memoir of a survivor of the Jewish faith from a concentration camp. However Corrie Ten Boom was a Christian woman who was involved in an underground effort in Holland to find safe places for persons of interest to the Nazi's. Not just jews but also young men who they take to put to work, people with a mental handicap, and more. She had a very specific and intricate system of coded communication with all the various people associated with the underground operations. Eventually her and her family was found out because of a mole associated with the gestapo. They were sent to a prison and then eventually ended up at a work camp. 

Her story was so impressive and inspirational to me because of the faith that her and her sister had, despite the horrible conditions they were subjected to. She is such a remarkable woman who always looked to Christ in every situation she faced. Her faith was so strong that she was able to witness and be apart of some amazing miracles. To go through what she went through and not only keep her faith intact but also have it strengthened because of her circumstances. After the war, she went on to tell her story and help spread the message of love and hope through Jesus Christ. As well as set up foundations to help anyone affected by the war.  I HIGHLY recommend reading this book.

Eyewitness Auschwitz

 

Eyewitness Auschwitz By: Filip Muller

This was an interesting read right after reading the eyewitness account from Dr. Miklos Nyiszli. because of what i assumed was the close proximity of where the doctor was located in conjunction to the crematoriums of Auschwitz. I was curious to see if Filip Muller and the Dr had any contact or communication with each other. Filip never mentioned Dr. Nyiszli by name however there was a story that he told that could very well have been correspondence between the two. 

I also found the "voice" or tone of the two books to be so startling different that it made me realize how the individual trauma and how its handled is so vastly different and for the lack of a better word individualized. While both eyewitness accounts are gruesome and horrifying, It seems that one of the survivors experienced caused such different scarring trauma that its harder to overcome than say the other survivor. This concept is something that should have been an easy thing for me to see; a "no brainer" if you will. But I think with the history of events surrounding the holocaust is sometimes lumped together as the events of the Jewish people during WWII. That often times the survival stories get lumped together as well and makes it feel as one big cohesive story rather than Individual people and their individual experiences that created these stories. 

So a goal I'm setting for myself going forward reading these survivor stories. Is to look past the lumped up "generalized" story, to make sure I am hearing the voice of the individual person trying to express what they personally went through and witnessed. Not just the generalization of the slaughter that was the holocaust.