The Corrie ten Boom House, Haarlem

This is one of the best places to learn about the holocaust. The group size is small and the tour guides are very passionate about their work. The tour lasts for about 1 1/2 hours. I loved the tour. I recommend you read the book, The Hiding Place before you go, it will help you to understand all that happened here. I would order tickets online so you are insured of getting in because it is very popular. I highly recommend this place.

It's not my first rodeo with Jewish-centered museums and WW2-related historical places. I enjoy visiting places that tell the story the way it is, factual, concise and straight forward. They remind me of humanity's resilience and give me insights on how people struggled with daily life. This museum is more of approaching history with Christian-colored lens, with a light sprinkle of actual facts. Everything has to be related with Christianity and how one must "accept Jesus into our lives." Somehow I doubt that some events were "Jesus answering her prayers," but simply a string coincidences that may or may not have saved her from death. I studied in a Christian high school, so I am very familiar with their word choices and "language." It made me feel very uncomfortable, and I really did not want to be there once I realized that the whole encounter sounds like religious indoctrination. But alas, one has to listen for almost an hour's worth of preaching. It was more akin to listening to a sermon from the pastor than listening to grandpa's stories. It was cool to see the hole on the wall and hiding space, but that was the only highlight in terms of actual things you can see inside. Most of the time was spent in the sitting room and the museum store (that was filled with Christian books related to the story). It was free, and I'm glad I didn't have to fall in line for 2 hours for this or I'll be pretty angry.