Casper ten Boom repaired watches. He had a watch shop on the Barteljorisstraat in Haarlem.He was an old man, with a long white beard. Every morning and evening he would read from the Bible and lead family prayers in his home above the shop.
When the Germans overran Holland and Dutch Jews began to be sent off to the extermination camps, the house became a hiding place for Jews. The Dutch Resistance built a wall in a bedroom at the house, behind which the Jews could hide if the house were searched.
One day Germans stormed the house and the old man and some of his children were arrested. The chief interrogator at Gestapo headquarters seemed to wonder about the necessity for the old man's arrest. "You, old man!" he said. "I'd like to send you home. I'll take your word that you won't cause any more trouble."
"If I go home today," the old man replied, "tomorrow I will open my door again to any man in need who knocks."
His imprisonment continued. Ten days later he was dead.
How much good was achieved by the old man's reply? What could one old man do against the might of the Nazi machine?
Not much. But what Casper ten Boom did will be remembered in heaven. "Assuredly, I say to you," Jesus said, "inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."
Contrary to what many believe, when Jesus spoke about "the least of these my brethren," He wasn't talking about Christians. He was talking about the Jews.
