Soon came the order to evacuate the prison. Corrie knew that it must mean a counter-invasion had begun. She gathered all her belongings into a pillowcase and sat to wait for them to come. However, she waited and waited. Even the ant no longer came out of the crack in the floor. It reminded Corrie that she too had a hiding place and that was Jesus and her God. Finally, the command was given and they began to march out in ranks of five. Try as she might, Corrie could not see Betsie, and she feared that they were being taken into Germany. Finally, at a freight yard somewhere in the city, Corrie saw Betsie. As they were ordered to board the train, Corrie wormed her way through the ranks until she had her sister by the hand. They found seats together. Corrie knew that she could bear anything with Betsie beside her.
The train finally began to roll about 2:00 or 3:00 AM and Corrie fell asleep. When she awoke, the train had stopped and they were being ordered to march into a wooded area. They marched for a mile or two, and Corrie held Betsie up most of the way. Then they came to a barbed wire fence and eventually learned that this prison was called Vught after the village nearby. It was camp that had been constructed by the occupation to hold political prisoners. They were held here for nearly two weeks when one day, a matron brought Betsie and Corrie forms to fill out. The other prisoners told them they were release forms, so the two women gratefully gave up their belongings in the two pillowcases, because they thought they were going home. They were even given back the belongings they had turned over when they were first arrested. But it was all a cruel hoax: they were just being moved to the main branch of the camp. Corrie was fraught with despair at how long they might end up living there, but Betsie was excited by the chance to help those who felt so much hate learn how to love. Corrie wondered, not for the first time, just what kind of sister she had, what road she walked on while Corrie trudged the all-too-solid earth.
A few days later, Corrie and Betsie were called for work assignments. Betsie, being frail, was assigned to sew prison uniforms, while Corrie was given a job of measuring small glass rods and arranging them in piles by size. Even though it was monotonous work, eventually the guards would leave the room and the prisoners could mingle and talk with each other. The foreman was a man named Moorman who had been the headmaster of a Catholic boy's school. He was fascinated that Corrie could repair watches and gave her more complicated work assembling relay switches. She enjoyed it more and it made the time go by faster. Mr. Moorman was a kindly man who treated them well. His son had been shot to death here at the camp the same week Corrie had arrived, but he never allowed his grief to show on his face or in his demeanor. He even showed Corrie how to sabotage the switches she was making, because they were meant to be used in German planes.
In the course of the next few weeks, Corrie learned from Betsie that a woman had come into the sewing room and revealed that she, too, had been arrested because of the strange man from Ermelo. He had been responsible for the raid on their house, and now she knew that his name was Jan Vogel. At that moment, Corrie believed she could have killed him had he been standing there in front of her. She became ill in body and spirit over the next week because of the violent feelings she had toward that man. But Betsie had none of the rage Corrie did. In fact, she took every opportunity she could to pray for Jan Vogel, believing that he must be suffering terribly. Corrie wondered once again if her sister belonged to another order of beings and realized that she was telling Corrie that Corrie was as guilty as Jan Vogel, because she had murdered him with her heart and through her tongue. So, Corrie prayed for Jan Vogel, and for the first night in many nights, she was able to sleep.
The days at Vught were a mixture of good and bad for Corrie. She welcomed companionship again after so many months in solitary confinement, but she also realized that with it came all their grief as well. She suffered with women whose men were on the male side of the camp and where frequent executions occurred; she worried with women who had left children behind and didn't know where they were; and she worried with those who were ill both physically and emotionally. However, in spite of the anxiety and fear, there was also laughter there. Furthermore, Corrie came to the conclusion that September might be their release date, because it would be six months of imprisonment, and she had been told that was the usual time for ration card theft. She looked forward to that time and prayed it was so.
Then, rumors began to fly that the Princess Irene brigade, the military unit
that escaped with the Queen, was in France and moving toward Belgium.
The guards were tense, and the sound of the firing squads was heard more
and more. So they waited out the days. Rumor was all they lived on. Mr.
Moorman tried to calm them when they heard explosions, explaining that
it wasn't an attack, but demolition work, the Germans blowing up bridges.
Then, they heard the roll call from the men's camp, followed by deathly
silence and the excruciating sound of rifle fire as the men were being
executed. More than seven hundred male prisoners were murdered that day.
The next day, the women were ordered to gather their things, and they
were marched out of the camp to freight cars waiting on the tracks. Inside
the car where Betsie and Corrie were marched were stacks of black bread.
Corrie knew then that it was meant to be a long trip. They were packed
in so tightly that the women had to find a way to wedge themselves beside
each other. In the terribly crowded conditions, Betsie told Corrie that
she was most thankful that day for one thing: that Father was in heaven.
The trip turned out to be as long as Corrie had thought, and the women
had to take turns at a small air hole to get fresh air. Betsie suffered
more than Corrie, but they both managed to sleep for awhile. Eventually,
they arrived in Germany.
Once again, Corrie relates her story from the perspective of both suffering and blessing. She is reunited with Betsie and that gives her strength. In the midst of fear, they can still laugh. But they also feel the fears of those other women with whom they are living and listen as 700 men are executed before the camp is closed. They must travel tightly packed into a freight car where fresh air is in minute supply and ultimately their greatest fear is realized: they are taken to Germany. Nonetheless, both Betsie and Corrie have one thing to be thankful for: Father is in heaven.
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Cite this page:
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on The Hiding Place".
TheBestNotes.com.
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