You Can Never Dance with the Devil – Confessing was Never a Historical Option

The Tom Hanks film, Bridge of Spies, portrays the capture and exchange of Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (1903-1971). I was known as the spy who would not break. You must understand that if you break under duress with an adversary determined to abuse you, there is no way to dance with the devil. Abel stood his ground for that is all you can do. The interrogator will themselves never respect you if you break anyway and they will NEVER honor what they say.

Historically, the King of England would engage in torture to extract a confession. You see it in movies where they promise a swift and easy death upon a confession. So why did people refuse to confess? The answer was simple. If you confessed to whatever crime they made up, the King then confiscated all your property and your family was thrown out on the streets. If you died without confessing, your family retained their property. If you stood tall, you would die from the torture. If you broke, you died as well more swiftly, but you destroyed your family in the process – the path of cowards.

Therefore, anyone who believes that your interrogator will EVER honor their words is a dreamer. They are inhuman people who have no integrity or honor or they could never torture another person. There is never a way to dance with the devil.