They traveled through Germany for two more days and nights without basic sanitary conditions and only black bread to eat. Furthermore, they had nothing to drink, and it became an obsession for all the women. Eventually the train stopped by a lake, and a thousand women crawled forward to drink. They only had two guards there for all those women, because the Germans knew they were too weak to resist. They were then marched off along the shore of the lake. They saw local people as they marched, but only the children could look at them. The adults lowered their eyes. Finally, they came to a camp with a smokestack emitting a gray vapor into the blue sky. The word went through the ranks that it was Ravensbruck, the women's extermination camp that had been infamous even back in Haarlem.
Just inside the wall of the camp, they rushed for a row of waist-high spigots trying to wash away the stench of the boxcar. But the guards beat them and forced them away from the water and marched them to a tent under which lay straw that looked comfortable and soft. The women sank down, and then immediately jumped to their feet again for the straw was crawling with lice. One of the women had smuggled in scissors, and now they all began to cut each other's hair. Corrie cried as she cut off Betsie's beautiful chestnut locks. They eventually settled down on Corrie's blanket and covered themselves with Betsie's. Betsie began to sing a hymn, and voices all around them picked it up. Later, a storm made the ground a mass of cinder mud and they were covered with it.
During the next day, the women were kept at rigid attention on the soggy ground and even though it had stopped raining,
conditions were still terrible. Betsie soon began to cough and suffered through severe intestinal cramping. She was very
ill. The third night as they were about to lie down, they were called to the camp's processing center. There, they had to lay
all of their belongings in a pile, walk naked past the SS men, and go into the showers. Coming out, no one had on more
than a thin dress and a pair of shoes. Coming out of the showers, Corrie was able to find the blue sweater, the Bible, and
the vitamins once again and hide them under some benches along the wall. Later, she was able to retrieve the bundle and
shove it under her dress. She felt like anyone could tell what she was carrying, but she just moved straight ahead and left it
in the hands of God.
Corrie and Betsie ended up in Barracks 8 which was right beside the punishment barracks. All day and all night too came horrible sounds of altogether detached cruelty, but at least, for Corrie and Betsie, their purpose became even clearer: they were there to bring the word of God to those inside Barracks 8. So life at Ravensbruck was lived on two levels: the observable, external life grew ever more horrible while the one they lived with God daily grew better and better.
Every Friday was the recurrent humiliation of medical inspection. All the women were forced to strip before the male guards and wait in line for a cursory inspection of their throats, their teeth, and their hands. Then, they were marched back to their barracks. The humiliation became more difficult for Corrie to bear until she remembered that Jesus hung naked on the cross. She told Betsie that one day as they stood in line naked, too, and Betsie finally found peace and told Corrie that she had never thanked Jesus for that. Corrie continued to give Betsie drops from the vitamin bottle, but worried constantly that it would run out, because Betsie shared it with any other women who even sneezed.
In October, they were marched to their permanent barracks and given numbers instead of names: Prisoner 66729 and Prisoner 66730. The conditions in the barracks were horrible. Rank straw and fleas were everywhere. Corrie cried out to her sister, asking her how they were to live in such a place. Betsie was praying, Show us. Show us how. Then, she cried out with excitement and told Corrie that the answer was in the scripture they had read aloud that morning: ...give thanks in all circumstances . . . Betsie insisted that was the answer - they must begin to give thanks for all that was good in Ravensbruck, beginning with the fact that they were together, that their Bible had passed through inspection, and that being packed so closed together meant that more could hear the Scripture.
Unfortunately, the conditions were still difficult, because a barracks designed to hold 400 women now held over 1400. An argument over whether one of the windows should be opened or closed ensued, and it was Betsie's prayer against strife that calmed down the entire barracks. That's when Corrie knew her sister was right in giving thanks, because now Corrie could give thanks for one more thing: Betsie had come to Barracks 28.
For several weeks after that, Betsie and Corrie were assigned to the Siemens factory as their work detail. It was sheer misery. They had to push a heavy handcart to a railroad siding where they unloaded huge metal plates from a boxcar and wheeled them to the receiving gate at the factory. The only had their prayer services at the end of the day to look forward to, but they were unbelievably wonderful moments under a single light bulb. They might hear at any time during the service the Magnificat in Latin from the Catholics, a Lutheran hymn, or even a chant from the Eastern Orthodox. To Corrie, they were little previews of heaven and the realization once again that in darkness, God's truth shone most clearly. At first, Corrie worried that the guards would break it up and then punish them, but for some unknown reason, there was hardly any supervision in their barracks during the time of service.
Another strange event also took place. The tiny bottle of liquid vitamins continued to produce drops. Corrie knew that it should have run out long before, but every time she tipped it over, the liquid would flow out. And it wasn't just Betsie who was receiving it. Dozens of others had shared its contents as well. Then, another Dutch woman, Mien, who was assigned to the hospital, confiscated a huge supply of vitamins and yeast compound for everyone who needed them. They praised God for their sudden riches. Unbelievably, when Corrie decided to use up the rest of the vitamins before the new medicine, no matter how hard she shook it, the bottle had finally and mysteriously emptied.
The biggest problem for Corrie became Betsie's failing health. One morning, Betsie was unable to pick up much on her shovel, and the guards screamed at her and mocked the way she walked. Corrie was furious, but Betsie actually laughed at herself. Unfortunately, that only made one of the guards even angrier and she slashed Betsie across the neck and chest with her leather crop. If Betsie had not stopped her, Corrie would have attacked the guard with her own shovel. Betsie told Corrie not to look at her new wound, but to look only at Jesus.
In November, the rains became even worse, and Betsie's cough began to bring
up blood. Corrie took her back again and again to the hospital, but Betsie's
fever was never high enough to admit her to the wards. However, as her
body grew weaker, Betsie's faith began to grow bolder. She considered
the trips to the sick ward opportunities to bring God to people who were
already at the threshold of heaven. One night, Betsie's fever hit 104
degrees, and she was finally admitted to the wards. Corrie returned to
the barracks and realized that it was an entirely different place since
Betsie had come there. She had taught them courtesy and compassion, and
now, she wasn't among them. Corrie wondered how, packed as she was between
so many women, she could feel so alone.
Although this chapter is a re-telling of the extreme misery of Ravensbruck, it is also Betsie's story. She brings compassion, understanding, and the word of God to barracks 28 and keeps humanity where it might have been lost. It is also the beginning of Betsie's dying. She gradually becomes weaker and weaker and ends up in the hospital. However, she leaves behind some wonderful miracles: the guards never seem to recognize their prayer services are going on, and the vitamin bottle never ends until God provides something to replace it.
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Cite this page:
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on The Hiding Place".
TheBestNotes.com.
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