In the spring of 1940, Nazi Germany invades Holland, forcing Holland to surrender within days. As bombs fall over their country, Corrie and Betsie pray, and Corrie is startled at the depth of her sister’s faith: “[…] incredibly, Betsie began to pray for the Germans, up there in the planes, caught in the fist of the giant evil loose in Germany” (62). Over the course of the next two years, the ten Booms persevere under the German occupation, continuing to operate their clock shop while helping their neighbors wherever they can. They keep a hidden radio in their house against German restrictions so that they can listen to independent news from Britain, and gradually become more worried as people they had known strangely disappear. The Nazis seem to target Dutch Jewish individuals for harassment.

Mr. Weil, who runs a fur shop across the street, has his property ransacked by German soldiers. The ten Booms take him in and contact Willem to find a safe place in the country for him. This is the beginning of their efforts to help local Jewish individuals, and word of their kindness begins to spread among that community. Corrie is pleased to be helping out in this way, but is troubled by a vision she had on the night of the invasion: She, Betsie, Father, and Willem are loaded into a wagon and drawn away from Haarlem by black horses.