1909

Richard Wurmbrand is born March 24, in Bucharest, Romania, the youngest of four boys in a Jewish family.

1937-38

In a village in Romania, a godly carpenter named Christian Wölfkes prays for years to win a Jew for Christ. A young Jewish man and his wife arrive in his village. In 1938, the carpenter leads the Jewish strangers, Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, to Jesus Christ.

1941

Romania supports Germany in the war against the USSR and is host to German forces. Richard Wurmbrand, now a pastor, engages in evangelistic activities with the occupying soldiers. During the Nazi terror, Richard and Sabina are repeatedly beaten and arrested. Sabina's family perishes in the mass extermination of Jews in concentration camps.

1944

Communists seize power in Romania and Russian troops pour into the country. Pastor Wurmbrand ministers to his oppressed fellow countrymen and to the Russian soldiers, printing one million Russian Gospels of John.

1945

Richard and Sabina attend the “Congress of Cults.” As many religious leaders come forward to swear loyalty to the new Communist regime, Sabina tells her husband to “wipe the shame from the face of Jesus.” Richard, knowing the cost, steps forward and tells 4,000 delegates that their duty as Christians is to glorify God and Christ alone.

1948

On Sunday morning, February 29, Pastor Wurmbrand leaves for church. Secret police kidnap Richard and place him in a solitary cell, designating him “Prisoner Number One."