Refuge Among the Fleas of Ravensbrück

In the winter of 1944, Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsey were transferred to Barracks 28 at Ravensbrück concentration camp. The straw bedding crawled with fleas. The stench was unbearable. Women were packed so tightly they slept in shifts. Corrie recoiled in despair.

But Betsey opened their smuggled Bible to 1 Thessalonians and read aloud: "Give thanks in all circumstances." Then she prayed, thanking God for the fleas.

Corrie refused. Fleas? Thanking God for fleas?

Yet something remarkable happened. The guards would not enter Barracks 28. The infestation kept them away. And in that neglected, vermin-infested space, Corrie and Betsey held open Bible studies night after night. Women from every nationality gathered to hear Scripture read aloud. The barracks became, against all reason, a sanctuary.