Rudy Revak

In 1920, Stefan Revak’s father left Scheindorf, Romania to work in the United States. Stefan, then five-years-old, stayed with his mother, Gertrude, to manage the farm and properties, while they waited for his father to save enough money for them to come to America. Thirty years would pass before their dream became reality.

“Iron String” is the intrepid story of Stefan Revak, his loneliness and hard work as a child raised by an alcoholic mother to his will to survive as a conscripted World War II German army soldier and prisoner of war. His desperate love for his wife, Maria, kept him alive through every trial, as he crisscrossed Europe in a war he did not choose.

While Stefan fought to live, Maria and their two young daughters waited in Scheindorf. Toward the end of 1944, the ravages of war in Europe had killed millions of soldiers and civilians. The Red army machine was carving a path of destruction through German-occupied territories, plundering and burning villages, beating, and murdering civilians. When the Russians approached Scheindorf, Maria and the two girls escaped with their village, taking only what they could carry. Their journey as World War II refugees would cover hundreds of miles across many countries and last eight years.

“Iron String” is based on a true story. It is a love story, a chronicle of perseverance through every obstacle, of amazing human intercession and kindness, and belief in God, set in the tumultuous panorama of life in Europe before, during, and after World War II.