HAARLEM....The city is lovely to stroll with charming old buildings and a bustling central market. However, my reason for visiting was to see the Corrie Ten Boom Museum. Corrie and her family were active in protecting Jews during World War II. Their courage saved many lives and inspired millions more, but it also lead to their betrayal and arrest. Four of their family members died in concentration camps, but Corrie survived the experience to share her story and faith in many books as well as the movie, "The Hiding Place".

A tour of the house takes about an hour. It is a combination history lesson and church sermon, but you learn a lot. You can actually step inside the hiding place that was created in Corrie's bedroom. Her family was never caught with Jews in the house. They were arrested because there was a stash of too many ration cards, too many for just three people living in the house, hidden away in a small compartment in the stairwell railing.

The guide said about 5% of the Dutch population were active in the Resistance and about 5% of the Dutch were collaborators with the Nazis. That left about 90% of the population that was too afraid to do anything. It makes you wonder which of the groups you would be in.

MARTIN