Tami Breslavsky, the mother of freed hostage Rom Breslavsky, spoke with Ynet and shared new details about the two years her son spent in captivity.

She noted that his captors wanted him to convert to Islam and promised to “compensate” him with food. They told him that if he read the Quran or fasted during Ramadan, he would receive small gifts and food. But it was important for Rom to maintain his Judaism, and according to his mother, he repeatedly said: “I’m Jewish, I am strong, I will not break.”

She added, “As soon as he returned, he put on tefillin.”

Tami: “Baruch Hashem, now we have returned to smiling a real smile, not a forced smile. We have returned to life. Rom went through a very difficult captivity, two very difficult years. But if there is anyone who can survive this, it’s Rom. He is strong; I believe in him.

“He tells all sorts of terrible things that happened to him there, as if they were an everyday occurrence. I hear it, and my heart clenches.”

“We still have a way to go. I am taking this path with him—from the first step until we see him truly smiling from the heart.”

According to reports, Breslavsky endured severe torture and brutal daily beatings for months.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)