The Hiding Place
One of my very favorite books of all time is The Hiding Place, the story of Corrie ten Boom and her family, who decided to hide Jews during the Holocaust and were rewarded by being forced into concentration camps.
I guess it’s the manner in which they hid the Jews that’s always fascinated me. Corrie and her sister Betsy started as messengers, helping to place Jews with families on farms in out-of-the-way spots where they were unlikely to be found. But eventually those locations were filled and it fell to the ten Boom family to begin lodging Jews themselves, in their own home and at great personal risk.
So they devised an ingenious room on the upper level of their home, hidden behind a false wall, and held regular drills with their “guests” in order to ensure that should the Nazis ever beat the front door down, everyone would be safe.
I won’t tell you what happened, only that Corrie ten Boom survived the concentration camp and was released due to a clerical error. When the war ended, she spent many decades traveling the world and telling about her experiences and the faithfulness of God during those bleak times. You’ll have to read the book for the whole story!
Suffice it to say, I think every home should have hiding places. And that even if you aren’t currently using those hiding places, you should have a plan in place for how to use them should the need arise.
But what do I have that needs to be hidden? you might ask. Use your imagination! If you keep any cash in the house, or jewelry, or ammo, or a coin collection, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to divide up the valuables and put at least a portion of them somewhere more secure than the fancy display-case coffee table.
Some home-security advisors say to keep one gold coin (if that’s what you collect) available as a decoy to hand over to a thief if need be. The burglar may think he’s gotten everything when actually most of your collection is hidden in places that represent too big of a challenge for the average home invader.
Of course, you’re going to have to share your cache locations with someone. It’s one thing to have a faultless memory, but if you die, your memory goes with you. Make sure that at least one other person knows where you’ve stashed the goodies, just in case.
