The Hiding Place is a Holocaust story, and, like many accounts of that dark period, it describes intense fear and suffering.

However, a paradox makes The Hiding Place unique. In the midst of her misery, Holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom experiences joy. Her love for humanity and her ability to forgive make for a captivating autobiography.

At 241 pages, the book is easy to read and difficult to put down.

Corrie ten Boom, a middle-aged watchmaker, begins her story in 1937 in Haarlem, Holland. She lives above the family clock shop with her spinster sister, Betsie, and her elderly father. The vivid manner in which she describes her family allows the reader to become intimately acquainted with them. Haarlem's children know her father, a gentle man with a long white beard, as Opa (Grandpa). Betsie is an angelic housekeeper who faithfully visits the town's invalids.

As the Nazis occupy Holland and persecution begins, the ten Booms, as Christians, feel a need to intervene. Corrie ten Boom becomes a leader in the resistance effort of the Netherlands. She crowds her family home with Jews who await safer hiding spots. They build a secret room, and at the sound of a knock, everyone disappears into it.

Instead of being filled with fear and frazzled nerves, the ten Boom home is filled with music and animated discussion, until the covert operation is betrayed and Corrie's family is captured.

She and Betsie are sent to Ravensbruck, a notorious concentration camp. They are forced to do hard labor and receive little food. The barracks are overcrowded and infested with lice and fleas. On one occasion, Betsie is beaten because she is too weak to keep up with her work.

As Betsie's health declines, she reminds Corrie not to hate anyone - not even the prison guards - but to recognize them as pained human beings.

Readers may find this attitude foolish and difficult to fathom, but through God's strength, Betsie loves in the midst of hunger, disease and cold.

Corrie ten Boom learned from her sister's example. Perhaps the most striking example of forgiveness is described in the book's final pages. After speaking at an engagement in post-war Germany, Corrie is approached by a former Ravensbruck guard. Corrie initially struggles with her emotions, but testifies that through God's strength, she is able to wrap him in her arms.

Instances such as these lead me to believe that Corrie ten Boom is a great hero of the twentieth century and that people, regardless of their religion or creed, should read her account.

Leaf through the front section of today's newspaper. You will see distrust and grudges prevail in today's world. Corrie ten Boom's example of integrity, dignity and compassion shines through like a ray of light.