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The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom
by Slavomir Rawicz
1956, 242 pages, $14.95
The Lyons Press

In 1940 the Russians sent Slavomir Rawicz, a Polish soldier, to a Siberian prison camp. Along with thousands of other men, he endured a freezing month-long train ride in a cattle car then a two-month winter march to reach the prison.

That killing journey, however, was not Rawicz’s “Long Walk.” In April, he and six other men escaped. Able to take few supplies with them, they initially survived by luck, fortitude, and occasional thievery. While still in Siberia, a 17-year-old escapee from a women’s work-camp joined them; Kristina was to become like a sister and a daughter to all of them.

Enduring extreme hardship and deprivation, they walked through Siberia, the Gobi Desert, Tibet, the Himalayas, and finally to India. They ate desert snakes; they thrashed rye in exchange for a meal; generous shepherds slaughtered precious sheep for these haggard strangers; and in the Himalayas they saw two Yeti.

Only four of the eight survived the year-long walk, and Rawicz ended up in England after the war. In the 1950s, while seeking accounts of the Yeti, a journalist learned of Rawicz’s story and helped him write the book, which has since been continually published.

Doubters have questioned the authenticity of this incredible story; none of Rawicz’s companions could be found to verify his account, and he died in 2004. In 2006, documents surfaced in the former Soviet Union that claim Rawicz could not have been on this journey. Still, he has many defenders because so many people had similar experiences during that time and because his details are highly accurate. I believe that this amazing book is essentially factual, but perhaps it isn't really important whether it is nonfiction, fiction or a mixture of both. Rawicz said, “I hope The Long Walk is a reminder that, when lost, freedom is difficult to regain.”

That is a truth that does matter.

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