Wurmbrand was born Sabina Oster on July 10, 1913 in Czernowitz, a city in the Bucovine region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which became part of Romania after WWI, and since WWII has been part of Ukraine. Sabina graduated from high school in Czernowitz, and then studied languages at the Sorbonne in Paris. While working in Bucharest, she married Richard Wurmbrand in 1936. During a vacation that year, both Richard and Sabina were converted to the Christian faith, joining the church of the Anglican Mission in Bucharest.

During the occupation of Romania in 1940-43, Sabina and her husband were spared from execution through the intervention of the chief editor of Romania’s main newspaper and interest shown in their case by prominent religious leaders. During this time, Sabina was one of the founders of the Jewish-Christian Church in Bucharest.

She was arrested by the Communist government in 1951 and taken to a labor camp to build a river canal. She spent three years in prison, and was under house arrest for several years after release.

The Communist authorities promised to free her if she would divorce her husband and renounce her faith, which she refused to do. She and her family escaped Romania in 1966, traveling throughout Europe and America, speaking for Christian Mission to the Communist World, which became the Voice of the Martyrs in 1992.

She wrote The Pastor’s Wife detailing her testimony which continues to be published in six languages.

Source: Women of Christianity