Biography
Sabina Oster was born on September 1, 1913, in Romania, in a Jewish family. Her father was a prosperous merchant, who was a pious Jew. She grew up in a household where the Jewish traditions were kept. She was a student at the University of Bucharest and showed an aptitude for study. She was a bright and beautiful young woman. In 1936, she married Richard Wurmbrand, a young businessman who was then a stockbroker. He was an atheist, and she was a woman of some faith in the Jewish tradition. The couple at first lived in a way that was not religious. In 1938, they both were converted to Christ, after Richard met a carpenter who gave him a New Testament.
They served as missionaries to the Jews in Romania. They were also involved in the care of those who were persecuted in the Second World War. During the war, the Romanian government was allied with Nazi Germany. Sabina's family suffered in the Holocaust. Her parents, her sister and her brothers were killed in the extermination camps. She herself was in danger, as a Jew. She was a courageous woman who sheltered Jewish children and others who were in hiding. She and her husband took in orphans.
In 1948, when her husband was arrested by the Communists, she was left alone with her young son, Mihai. She did not know what had become of him. For several years, she did not hear from him. She was told that he was dead. She was a woman of faith and carried on the work of the underground church. She also took part in the efforts to help the families of those who were arrested. She continued to hold secret meetings and to distribute Christian literature. She was warned that she, too, would be arrested.
In 1950, she was arrested by the secret police and imprisoned. She was taken to a forced labor camp, at the Danube-Black Sea Canal, one of the worst of the Communist camps. It was a place of great suffering. The women worked from morning to night, digging the canal with spades and carrying earth in baskets. They were underfed and exposed to the cold. Many died of exhaustion and disease. She spent three years there. She was a woman who was frail in body but strong in spirit. She comforted the other prisoners and prayed with them. She was released in 1953, after an amnesty.
She returned to her son and waited for her husband. He was released in 1956 and then re-arrested in 1959. She was left again alone. In 1964, he was freed. In 1965, they were ransomed by Christians in Norway and Britain and allowed to leave Romania. They settled in the United States and founded the mission Jesus to the Communist World, now known as The Voice of the Martyrs. She was a partner in her husband's work. She traveled with him and spoke about her experiences. She wrote a book, The Pastor's Wife, published in 1970, which told the story of her years in prison. It was widely read.
She was a woman who bore great sorrows with faith. She lost her family in the Holocaust, and she lost years of her life in prison. She also was a woman who suffered from poor health. She forgave those who had hurt her. She did not become bitter. She was criticized by some for the claims of her husband's ministry, as some of them were disputed. She stood by him.
She died on August 11, 2000, in Glendale, California, at the age of eighty-six. Her husband died the following year. Her life shows the effect of a woman who suffered and who forgave. She was a witness of faith in a time of terror.