During the time of Nazi persecution, a Christian Dutch family called the ten Booms welcome into their home various people who were hiding from the Nazis, both Jewish and not. 18-year-old Hans Poley was the first guest, hiding to avoid being sent to Germany to do hard labor in replacement of Germans who'd been sent to fight. Here he tells the story of his time at the ten Booms' house and his own arrest that took him to a prison, then a concentration camp.

Having read The Hiding Place earlier this year, it was really interesting to see the Beje and the ten Boom family from the perspective of one of their "guests." Not only does Hans Poley echo Corrie ten Boom's assertions about the incredible faith of her father and sister, he shows Corrie herself as more open and giving than she portrayed herself in some areas. For example, when her room was chosen as the location for the secret room in her book, she tried to protest it. According to Poley, however, she "readily agreed." I think we'd all be surprised to find out how others view us, compared to how we view ourselves, and in this case, Corrie ten Boom may have been a little hard on herself. Another small thing I noticed that didn't match up between the books is that both authors claim to be the one who gave Eusi, one of the most prominent long-term Jewish guests, his fake name, and I wonder if this, and any other possible discrepancy, is simply due to faulty memories.

Yet again I was struck by how incredibly selfless this family was, giving up their own comfort and safety to help so many others. And Casper ten Boom, Corrie's father, is even more inspirational to me after reading this. He repeatedly expressed a desire to help the Jewish people as if it weren't even a choice to make. If you've read The Hiding Place, you should consider reading this too. Overall, though, I recommend it to anyone interested in true Holocaust accounts, especially those from a Christian worldview. ( )

As Hitler’s assassins planned to execute an entire orphanage of Jewish children, a group of brave untrained teens stood against Nazi forces and worked with Corrie ten Boom, risking everything to save innocent lives.

You may know the true story of Corrie ten Boom and her family who saved countless lives as they opened their watch shop as a refuge for Jewish neighbors being targeted by Nazi forces. But, do you know the story of Hans Poley, a Dutch Resistance fighter, and the group of students Corrie called the “Teenage Army” who aided her heroic cause?

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After seeing the movie based on this book (which shares the same title), I wanted to find out how accurate the movie was, as the behind the scenes section suggested that it was accurate. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to confirm everything in the movie, so not sure of it all, especially since it felt like Hans Poley only told some of the whole story and not the entirety of it. This is hard to explain, but it seemed like he really skipped over going deeper into his work with the resistance. Not sure if other readers also got this impression, but I did. This is certainly a great follow-up to The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, as Hans Poley knew her and spent time with her family, and they are mentioned in this book. I liked seeing his perspective of the Ten Boom family and the people surrounding them and connecting Corrie's take on things in The Hiding Place with Hans Poley's perspective. I love reading about WWII and what people experienced during the Holocaust, as I believe that it is important to remember and make sure that we don't forget. This was definitely not as good as The Hiding Place, but I still recommend the read. ( )