Corrie ten Boom was a Christian woman from the Netherlands who helped hide Jews during World War II. She and her sister Betsie were arrested and sent to a concentration camp, where Betsie died from the harsh treatment.
Years after the war, Corrie was preaching in a church in Germany about God’s forgiveness through grace.
After the message, a man approached her.
Her heart froze.
She recognized him.
He was one of the guards from the camp —
one of the men who had tortured her and her sister.
He said:
“Fraulein, you mentioned Ravensbrück.
I was a guard there… since then I have become a Christian.
I know God has forgiven me.
But I need to hear it from you too:
Will you forgive me?”
He reached out his hand.
Corrie was stuck.
Suddenly, the memories of pain, humiliation, and her sister’s death flooded back.
She wrote:
“I, who had preached so often that forgiveness is by grace,
could not forgive.”
Her heart screamed:
“How can I forgive this man?”
In that moment, she prayed deeply:
“Jesus, I cannot forgive him.
Give me Your forgiveness.”
She said she obeyed God not by feeling, but by faith in His grace.
She forced her hand to extend toward his.
And the moment their hands touched, she felt something supernatural:
“A current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm,
and into our joined hands.
And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being,
bringing tears to my eyes.”
She cried out:
“I forgive you, brother, with all my heart.”
Corrie later wrote:
“Forgiveness is not possible by our own power.
When we cannot forgive, Jesus must do it through us.”