Survivor of Hamas captivity Sasha Troufanov appeared alongside his wife and fellow survivor Sapir Cohen in Idan Harel's documentary film "Thirsty Souls," which aired on Channel 14. Troufanov recounted how his faith intensified in captivity, and how it gave him strength.
"When I got to the situation of October 7th," Troufanov related, "I didn't have the tools to contend with this challenge." When everything was taken from him, he had to face questions he couldn't run from.
He recalled the difficult times when he needed that faith. "I got to captivity with gunshot wounds on my legs, a bleeding head, and a torn shoulder, a terrible physical condition. That state is actually what led me to think better mentally. This realisation that I can't choose my fate. After the hellfire in Khan Yunis, where I nearly died, they took me and put me in some cage. Before that, I was with the terrorists, and they let me walk around in a small space, and suddenly I'm in a small cage; it is an unpleasant situation. You say to yourself: 'How did this happen?'"
At that moment, Troufanov decided to change his mindset. "I said: 'You know not to look at things simply. Try to dissociate from what's happening now and understand that it's a way to make you better.' In half an hour of sitting by myself, I had a switch in my head. The terrorists no longer scared me so much, and the worry about what would happen didn't bother me. I just thought that 'if G-d will give you this life, you won, and if not, you had 27 good years and a few bad months. Everything is okay."