| Casper ten Boom | |
|---|---|
Casper ten Boom, patriarch of the ten Boom family. |
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| Born | May 18, 1859 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | March 10, 1944 Scheveningen Prison |
| Cause of death | Tuberculosis |
| Residence | Barteljorisstraat 19, Haarlem, Netherlands |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Other names | Opa, Haarlem's Grand Old Man |
| Citizenship | Netherlands |
| Education | Primary School |
| Occupation | Watchmaker |
| Years active | over 60 years |
| Known for | Aiding Jews and resisters |
| Home town | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Board member of | Haarlem School Board |
| Religion | Dutch Reformed Protestant |
| Spouse | Cornelia Johanna Arnolda Luitingh ten Boom |
| Children | Betsie, Willem, Nollie, Corrie |
| Parents | Willem and Elisabeth ten Boom |
| Website | |
| ten Boom Museum | |
Casper ten Boom (May 18, 1859 – March 10, 1944) was a Dutch Christian who helped many Jews and resisters escape the Nazis during the Holocaust of World War II. He is the father of Betsie and Corrie ten Boom, who also aided the Jews and were sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp; only Corrie survived. Ten Boom died March 10, 1944, ten days after the arrest of the family, while in the Scheveningen Prison.
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Casper was born in Haarlem in 1859, the son of Willem ten Boom, who had a watchshop, and his wife. When Casper was eighteen years old, he started a jewelry store in Amsterdam. He had grown up in a family that belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church and had strong faith. While living in Amsterdam, he started a work among the poor people called Tot Heil des Volks (For the Salvation of the People). Later he returned to Haarlem to live.[1]
In Sunday School he met Cor Luitingh, whom he married in 1884.[1] Like his father, he lived and worked in the same building, with the shop on the ground floor and living quarters on the two floors above.[2] He and his wife Cor had three daughters ( Elisabeth "Betsie" (1885-1944), Arnolda Johanna "Nollie" (1890-October 22, 1953) and Cornelia Arnolda Johanna "Corrie" (1892-1983), and a son, Willem (November 21, 1886-December 13, 1946). Another child, Hendrick Jan (September 12, 1888-March 6, 1889), died in infancy. His wife died in 1921 from a stroke.
Willem and Nollie both married and moved away. Casper lived with his two unmarried daughters Betsie and Corrie in their home and watchmaking workshop.[2] The Ten Boom family were members of the Protestant Dutch Reformed Church.[3]
The Ten Boom family were devout and generous Christians. According to The Hiding Place, in 1918 the family took in the first of many foster children that they would shelter over the years. Corrie ran special church services for disabled children for 20 years.
The Dutch Reformed Church "protested Nazi persecution of Jews as an injustice to fellow human beings and an affront to divine authority."[3] The Ten Boom family strongly believed that people were equal before God.
During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, the father and daughters became active in sheltering Jewish people at their home, who were trying to escape the Nazis. In May 1942 a woman came to the house and asked for help. She said she was a Jew, that her husband had been arrested several months before, and her son had gone into hiding. As Occupation authorities had visited her, she was afraid to return home. She had heard that the family had helped other Jews, and asked if she could stay with them, to which Casper agreed. He believed that all people were equal before God. He told her, "In this household, God's people are always welcome." When the Nazis began requiring all Jews to wear the Star of David, he voluntarily wore one also.[4]
His son Willem, a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church, also worked in an non-denominational nursing home. During the occupation, he sheltered many Jews there to save them from the Nazis.[3]
On February 28, 1944, the Gestapo raided his house and arrested Casper and his daughters, as well his son Willem and third daughter, and a nephew, who were visiting. The Gestapo arrested other supporters who visited the house during the day, taking a total of about 30 people to Scheveningen prison. [3]
When Ten Boom was interrogated in prison, the Gestapo told him they would release him because of his age so that he could "die in his own bed". He replied: "If I go home today, tomorrow I will open my door to anyone who knocks for help". [4] When asked if he knew he could die for helping Jews, he replied, "It would be an honor to give my life for God's chosen people."[2] On March 10, Casper died at the Hague Municipal Hospital at the age of 84 after ten days in Scheveningen prison.
His daughter Betsie died at Ravensbruck in December 1944. His son Willem (60) contracted spinal tuberculosis (TB) while imprisoned for his resistance work. Although he was released, he died of TB shortly after the war. Ten Boom's nephew Christiaan, then 24, was sent to the Bergen Belsen concentration camp for his work in the underground, and died there during the war.[2]