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Escape From Terror: A True Story of Deliverance From the Iron Fist of Communism and Nazi Slavery
Escape From Terror vividly depicts a true story of God’s supernatural ability to restore, deliver, and redeem those held captive by the devil. Follow the exciting life of Dr. Bill Basansky from birth in the Ukraine at a time when it was part of the former Soviet Union. The German occupation forced his family from their home, and they were confined in Nazi prison camps during World War II. They were miraculously delivered by God and brought to America after the war. Later serving in the U.S. Air Force, Dr. Basansky suffered an injury that left his legs paralyzed. In desperation, he cried out to God and was miraculously healed and instantly set free from eight years of drug addiction. After accepting the Lord Jesus Christ, and later being filled with the Holy Sprit, he went on to receive his Master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma, and his PhD in Psychology and Counseling from Union University in California. Dr. Basansky now pastors Life International Church in Fort Myers, Florida, and ministers around the world, challenging believers to live victoriously. About the author: Dr. Bill Basansky was born in the Ukraine where he was confined to Nazi prison camps during World War II. Upon being granted permission to migrate to America, he earned his masters degree in linguistics at the University of Oklahoma and his Ph.D. in psychology and counseling, then later served as head of the Russian Department at Oral Roberts University. Today he resides in Fort Myers, Fla., with his wife, Bea, and continues to speak in churches, conferences, and seminars around the world.
320 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 16, 2015
What can I say? I LOVE testimonies of the redemptive work of Jesus. I collect them, sometimes reread them, and never tire of palming them off on to whoever hints that they might want to know if God is real!
This one is fabulous - well written, fast paced and rich in narrative detail. I guess that for this year, this would be my favorite Christian testimony account thus far. And I'm only half way through the year!
Read this if you love the Lord. Read it if you'd like to know about Jesus. Read it if you are only mildly curious. Read it if you are cold to all things pertaining to the Christian faith - just remind yourself, as you read, that this is a TRUE account!
Sara
Gently Awakened: The Influence of Faith on Your Artistic Journey
This one is fabulous - well written, fast paced and rich in narrative detail. I guess that for this year, this would be my favorite Christian testimony account thus far. And I'm only half way through the year!
Read this if you love the Lord. Read it if you'd like to know about Jesus. Read it if you are only mildly curious. Read it if you are cold to all things pertaining to the Christian faith - just remind yourself, as you read, that this is a TRUE account!
Sara
Gently Awakened: The Influence of Faith on Your Artistic Journey
September 2, 2022
I heard Bill Basansky speak in the late 70's at a Spirit-filled conference. His testimony inspired me to buy his book. This book gives a powerful revelation of how God can speak to and protect someone who does not believe in Him and to bring him to a place where he can fulfill God's plan for his life.
As a teenager, Basansky was put in a prison camp by the Nazis. He later immigrated to the US, but it was 20 years later when he finally turned his life over to God. God's plan can take time to fulfill.
It was interesting to me to see how someone who did not believe in God, who was not born again, could in desperation call out to Him for deliverance and receive answers to prayer ... yet in such desperate circumstances never completely turn his life over to Christ and become born again.
I remember vividly his descriptions of life in a prison camp, where raw garlic cost more than cigarettes on the black market because it was the only way to get rid of tapeworms. He described vividly how they move continually inside the digestive system causing discomfort and pain 24/7. The inside of the body is very sensitive to touch because it is not intended to be touched from the outside. The exterior has protective layers like skin, eyelids, etc. Imagine what it is like to have raw flesh exposed to the air and touched ... and imagine this happening inside the digestive system 24/7.
He also described how he and his father and many other prisoners were put in isolation in separate cells. They were left for 10 days without food. In the desperation that he felt, he cried out to God to protect his father. His father later told him that one day during this time, the door of his cell opened quickly, a hand appeared with a piece of bread, and then closed. Basansky was having prayers answered despite not having a personal relationship with God. God hears our cries for Him and He loves and delivers even those who do not believe in Him.
I remember Corrie ten Boom telling about how a guard approached her with absolute evil in his eyes and was about to hit her when his arm was stopped in the air. She said this was her first realization of the power of fasting (even involuntary fasting) ... she was reminded of the scripture "this kind comes out only by fasting and prayer". Fasting brings supernatural power and deliverance.
I have also noticed this when caring for loved ones who are dying. Sometimes the body's digestive system does not function well and people are unable or unwilling to eat. Sometimes doctors cut off food and liquid. In these cases, these were people who had never missed a meal in their lives. But during this time of involuntary fasting, there was such a rise in their spiritual relationship with God. They were raising their hands praising God with joy and exuberance that came from the spirit. I remember God comforting me when people whom I loved could not eat. He told me that He was using this period of fasting for a spiritual cleanse that would make their deaths an unfrightening glorious experience. (I am not saying that this applies to everyone, but in these cases, fasting brought about a powerful encounter with God, as it did with Corrie ten Boom and Bill Basansky.)
There is an interesting warning to those who fast. Possibly because of the uncertainty of food supplies in the Ukraine, some people knew how to break a fast. Many people quickly devoured the bread they received on the 11th day ... and died. He and his father knew to gradually reintroduce food to allow the body time to reactivate its digestive system.
This is a warning that is not often given by churches which call a fast. I have been on water only fasts longer than 10 days in duration. However, I was not under stress. I knew that there was food available whenever I wanted it. I kept warm. I slept well. I drank water whenever I wanted it. I was not filled with fear or hate or resentment. I was not dealing with uncomfortable bedding, lack of blankets, vermin and all the other intolerable conditions of a prison camp.
Even then, I knew to break the fast gradually. I can tell you that it takes more self-control to eat gradually after a long fast is over than to not eat at all. This means consuming small quantities of easily digestible food for a few days, at least 1 day for each week of water fasting. Even organic bone broth being drunk rather than sipped gradually during the day can be too nutrient dense for some people and simply pass through the digestive system almost instantly. Juices are recommended at first, then cooked vegetables in soup, even before raw salads.
I was grateful to hear this testimony because when I began fasting 50 years ago, there was not much information about fasting. Today you can buy entire books by medical doctors like Jason Fung. I remembered the warning from Basansky's experience and have never had a bad time coming off a fast.
These experiences are not the focus of the book, but sometimes we can be inspired by how little details or previous knowledge that someone had that others did not have are important in fulfilling God's plan for our lives. If Basansky had not known how to eat gradually after food deprivation, he would have died there in his cell and his ministry of 40 years to the people of Russia, the US and the rest of the world would not have happened.
No detail, no experience in our lives is without God's purpose. It might seem useless or harmful at the time ... until we find out that it was necessary preparation for a later experience.
I found Basansky's testimony to be inspiring and to give hope that God can order the steps of an unbeliever so that he can find Him. This should be encouraging to those who are interceding for loved ones who have strayed away from or not yet found God. Their prayers make a difference.
I remember the testimony of a man sentenced to life in a Gulag prison. A family member went to a prayer group in NY and asked for prayer for him to be set free and brought to the US. The prayer cell leader thought it was an impossible situation ... but prayed. Withing 24 hours, that prisoner was transferred to work in the kitchen where he was warm and had adequate food ... which he felt saved his life. Eventually he was released and allowed to go to the US.
Prayer works. There are no hopeless situations. We cannot give up even if we do not directly see the results of our prayers.
As a teenager, Basansky was put in a prison camp by the Nazis. He later immigrated to the US, but it was 20 years later when he finally turned his life over to God. God's plan can take time to fulfill.
It was interesting to me to see how someone who did not believe in God, who was not born again, could in desperation call out to Him for deliverance and receive answers to prayer ... yet in such desperate circumstances never completely turn his life over to Christ and become born again.
I remember vividly his descriptions of life in a prison camp, where raw garlic cost more than cigarettes on the black market because it was the only way to get rid of tapeworms. He described vividly how they move continually inside the digestive system causing discomfort and pain 24/7. The inside of the body is very sensitive to touch because it is not intended to be touched from the outside. The exterior has protective layers like skin, eyelids, etc. Imagine what it is like to have raw flesh exposed to the air and touched ... and imagine this happening inside the digestive system 24/7.
He also described how he and his father and many other prisoners were put in isolation in separate cells. They were left for 10 days without food. In the desperation that he felt, he cried out to God to protect his father. His father later told him that one day during this time, the door of his cell opened quickly, a hand appeared with a piece of bread, and then closed. Basansky was having prayers answered despite not having a personal relationship with God. God hears our cries for Him and He loves and delivers even those who do not believe in Him.
I remember Corrie ten Boom telling about how a guard approached her with absolute evil in his eyes and was about to hit her when his arm was stopped in the air. She said this was her first realization of the power of fasting (even involuntary fasting) ... she was reminded of the scripture "this kind comes out only by fasting and prayer". Fasting brings supernatural power and deliverance.
I have also noticed this when caring for loved ones who are dying. Sometimes the body's digestive system does not function well and people are unable or unwilling to eat. Sometimes doctors cut off food and liquid. In these cases, these were people who had never missed a meal in their lives. But during this time of involuntary fasting, there was such a rise in their spiritual relationship with God. They were raising their hands praising God with joy and exuberance that came from the spirit. I remember God comforting me when people whom I loved could not eat. He told me that He was using this period of fasting for a spiritual cleanse that would make their deaths an unfrightening glorious experience. (I am not saying that this applies to everyone, but in these cases, fasting brought about a powerful encounter with God, as it did with Corrie ten Boom and Bill Basansky.)
There is an interesting warning to those who fast. Possibly because of the uncertainty of food supplies in the Ukraine, some people knew how to break a fast. Many people quickly devoured the bread they received on the 11th day ... and died. He and his father knew to gradually reintroduce food to allow the body time to reactivate its digestive system.
This is a warning that is not often given by churches which call a fast. I have been on water only fasts longer than 10 days in duration. However, I was not under stress. I knew that there was food available whenever I wanted it. I kept warm. I slept well. I drank water whenever I wanted it. I was not filled with fear or hate or resentment. I was not dealing with uncomfortable bedding, lack of blankets, vermin and all the other intolerable conditions of a prison camp.
Even then, I knew to break the fast gradually. I can tell you that it takes more self-control to eat gradually after a long fast is over than to not eat at all. This means consuming small quantities of easily digestible food for a few days, at least 1 day for each week of water fasting. Even organic bone broth being drunk rather than sipped gradually during the day can be too nutrient dense for some people and simply pass through the digestive system almost instantly. Juices are recommended at first, then cooked vegetables in soup, even before raw salads.
I was grateful to hear this testimony because when I began fasting 50 years ago, there was not much information about fasting. Today you can buy entire books by medical doctors like Jason Fung. I remembered the warning from Basansky's experience and have never had a bad time coming off a fast.
These experiences are not the focus of the book, but sometimes we can be inspired by how little details or previous knowledge that someone had that others did not have are important in fulfilling God's plan for our lives. If Basansky had not known how to eat gradually after food deprivation, he would have died there in his cell and his ministry of 40 years to the people of Russia, the US and the rest of the world would not have happened.
No detail, no experience in our lives is without God's purpose. It might seem useless or harmful at the time ... until we find out that it was necessary preparation for a later experience.
I found Basansky's testimony to be inspiring and to give hope that God can order the steps of an unbeliever so that he can find Him. This should be encouraging to those who are interceding for loved ones who have strayed away from or not yet found God. Their prayers make a difference.
I remember the testimony of a man sentenced to life in a Gulag prison. A family member went to a prayer group in NY and asked for prayer for him to be set free and brought to the US. The prayer cell leader thought it was an impossible situation ... but prayed. Withing 24 hours, that prisoner was transferred to work in the kitchen where he was warm and had adequate food ... which he felt saved his life. Eventually he was released and allowed to go to the US.
Prayer works. There are no hopeless situations. We cannot give up even if we do not directly see the results of our prayers.
November 25, 2018
It is always encouraged to read how God is working in someone else’s life especially during a terrible time in our world
May 24, 2023
Compelling autobiography. Although I visited in the Basansky’s home in Tulsa, I did not know all of this - his (shocking) life story, and his dogged determination. Dr. Bill and Bea were delightful, upbeat and inspiring. (p.s. My Dad was one on the coordinators for the FGBMFI Convention in DC that Dr. B talks about at the end of this book.)
May 22, 2019
its a good source of information
July 11, 2021
Wow
This is a must read. Should be a movie. Very exciting and faith inspiring. You won’t regret reading this book.
This is a must read. Should be a movie. Very exciting and faith inspiring. You won’t regret reading this book.
December 13, 2025
This books challenged my perceptions of what God is able to do in difficult situations.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews