The Long Walk

The Long Walk, The True Story of a Trek to Freedom is the first hand account of Slavomir Rawicz, a Polish calvary officer at the start of WWII. After Poland fell to the Nazis, many Poles who lived near the Russian border fell into the hands of Soviets who then accused them of spying for the Nazis.  The Polish people found themselves literally between a rock and a hard place.  In the case of Slavomir, it is a miracle that the rock did not crush him.

Slavomir was arrested in November of 1939 when he was just 24.  He spent 12 months in solitary confinement, taken out only to be interrogated and tortured by the NKVD, the Soviet Secret Police.  After a sham of a trial, he was sentenced to 25 years hard labor in Siberia for "espionage and plotting against the people of the USSR." It seemed that his life was over, but the journey had just begun.
3000 miles later he started his sentence in Camp 303.  Almost immediately he began planning his escape, a difficult enough task in the Siberian winter, but which he and 6 other inmates accomplished in April of 1941. Getting out of the labor camp was just the first step in this journey. They now had to escape south on foot through Siberia, China, the Gobi desert, Tibet, over the Himalayas and into the safety of British India. This is a story of superhuman endurance, and proof that the fight for freedom makes any obstacle seem surmountable.

Here's a little piece of advice.  When you are reading a non-fiction book, wait until you finish before Googling the subject matter.  I didn't, so I had to finish the story knowing that there is quite a bit of controversy surrounding Slavomir and his trek.  I'm not going to say anymore.  It is an amazing tale, and a look back at a time in history as told by an eyewitness. I was reminded once again of how lucky we are to live in the USA. I'll let you make up your own mind about the rest.

The Book Chick