Pastor
Richard Wurmbrand was an evangelical minister
who spent fourteen years in Communist imprisonment
and
torture in his homeland of Romania. He was one of Romania's most widely
known Jewish Believer leaders, authors, and educators.
In
1945, when the Communists seized Romania and attempted to control the churches
for their purposes, Richard Wurmbrand immediately began an effective "underground"
ministry to his enslaved people and the invading Russian soldiers. He
was eventually arrested in 1948. Richard spent three years in solitary
confinement, seeing no one but his Communist torturers.
His
wife, Sabina, also Jewish, was a slave laborer for three years.
Due to Pastor Richard Wurmbrand's international stature as a Messianic Jewish leader, diplomats
of foreign embassies asked the Communist government about his safety. They were told he had fled Romania. Secret police, posing as
released fellow prisoners, told his wife of attending his burial in the
prison cemetery. Pastor Wurmbrand was released in a general amnesty in
1964. Realizing the great danger of a third imprisonment, Christians in
Norway negotiated with the Communist authorities for his release from Romania.
The "going price" for a prisoner was $1,900. Their price for Wurmbrand
was $10,000. In May 1966, Pastor Richard Wurmbrand testified in Washington
before the Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee and stripped to the
waist and showed 18 deep torture wounds covering his body. His
story was carried across the world newspapers in the U.S., Europe, and
Asia. Read a portion of this report. Communist
Exploitation of Religion Pastor Richard's Testimony from 1966.
by Richard Wurmbrand
Kindle Edition
