I first read the book many years ago; found it a gripping and fascinating read, and coming to it “fresh” and not very knowledgeable, had no difficulty seeing it as “amazing but true”. Later I came across assorted objections to its plausibility; and more, and more…
As well as the various reasons for doubt cited in this thread: I remember (though not in detail) one guy’s analysis of the recounted journey; he claimed to find a number of details of logistics (geographical, and re time-factors), having regard to which, things just did not add up – the journey as recounted, could not have been done. I suspect that with all the indications that the thing is not a truthful account; being aware of those, would for me spoil enjoyment of re-reading the book.
And we learn (see post #6) that the incident with the yetis does not feature in the film. Making that discovery in the course of seeing the film, would have had me asking for my money back .
I watched The Way Back today and found it to be entertaining and thought-provoking - good movie. It is hard to know if this could be a true story, however. I am skeptical in anyone’s ability to traverse the Himalayas with minimal supplies and equipment.
One little thing I noticed in terms of potential geographical errors (at least in the film - I have not read the book) - in one scene, they wake-up one morning and they are next to what appears to be the Great Wall, then next they are said to be in Tibet and close to Lhasa. If my central Asian geography is correct, the Great Wall is in northern China closer to Mongolia than Tibet. This would mean if they passed the Wall heading south, they would have the width of China still to traverse, which would include the Taklamakan desert, which is not mentioned in the movie at all (only the Gobi, which is generally north of the Wall). Again, I have not read the book, but the way it was presented in the movie seemed out of order.
No one’s mentioned the ghost writer and publisher of the book.
Suppose the author had a story, too long, improperly paced.The ghostwriter listens and edits. And public interest comes into play: “Oh, Slav! hey, Yeti’s are big in the news! Let’s throw one in!” This was the 50’s there were lots of post-WWII books like this. Not a lot of journalistic integrity. The war was over, people were in it for the money.
Basically it looks like a ghostwritten book (Ronald Dowling), with Slavomir’s name stuck on it.
I being a crypto-nut, for me the yeti element is the most interesting and attention-engaging part of this whole imbroglio. As mentioned in my post #17 – and referenced in the “Cryptomundo” extract to which I try there, to direct – the “publicly circulated” version of the book’s genesis is the opposite way around from the scenario which you suggest. Per the version-for-the-public, Downing was writing newspaper articles about the phenomenon and mystery of the yeti, which led to his first contact with Rawicz; approximate basis, “I ran into what would seem like a couple of these things, in the early 1940s in the course of…” – going on from which, Rawicz told Downing of his whole alleged journey.
With it appearing overwhelmingly likely that Rawicz himself, anyway, did not perform the journey as per the account; the truthfulness of anything to do with the whole business, is called into question. It would seem possible, if unlikely, that Downing swallowed Rawicz’s tale and believed it to be true – rationalising away such “logistical holes” in the story, as he may have perceived. Or did Downing – in order to “keep Rawicz sweet” – feign to him, belief in his story? Or did the pair of them happily concoct together, a tale which they knew to be false, in order to fool the chumps and line their own pockets? One reckons that nobody will ever know.
If you’re in the UK you can listen to this BBC documentary (from 2010) about the mystery.
As I said above, it concludes that Rawiicz didn’t make the journey but there’s some evidence that someone else might have…
I have no opinion on the guy’s story, but this makes me question the Wili entry:
This to me sugests “trumped up”, as they could just pick any serious crime and thrown him in prison as long as they wanted. I imagine that if he really killed an NKVD officer, they would have executed him without even a trial.
In the book he claims that they were often were shown the correct trail to follow to go south, and there have been trade routes between Tibet and Nepal for centuries.
I don’t believe he did what he claimed in the book but following a pack trail over mountain passes without a map isn’t the most unbelievable part of the story to me.
Have listened to the documentary – many thanks. Most interesting; and a bit mind-boggling, with a couple of other fellows popping up who claimed to have done the same, or much the same, thing – various identical details, including the advantage gained through doing radio repairs for the camp commandant’s wife…
The suggestion put forward late in the documentary, appeals: that someone, somehow in those years did manage such an escape – that the story, widely told and re-told in the circumstances of military service, became a “meme” at the time (with, also, the equivalent exploit allegedly by a German P.O.W. in Siberia, mentioned upthread): and that with wartime trauma and stress as part of the picture, some guys came to truly believe that such an escape and trek had been done by themselves, or someone they knew personally. I’d think it can be reckoned that with phenomenally good luck, someone might possibly succeed in the feat – even very poorly provisioned, and with no navigational aids except sun and stars.
Regretfully, I’d think it almost certain that the yeti part, is a made-up embellishment on the part of Downing / Rawicz – with view cashing in on early-1950s yeti-mania in Britain.
Yes, I said there are trade routes across the Himalayas, and there have been for centuries. Probably at least back to the 7th C.
Your post #28 specifically doubted his crossing the Himalayas without a map, not Tibet in general, which is what I responded to.
Having said that, Tibet wasn’t uninhabited; iirc they went from village to village and kept asking for the way to Lhasa, which was close enough the right direction for much of their route… Once they reached Tibet I don’t think navigation would have been their greatest problem.
(It’s a long time since I last read the book, I may have misremembered.)
Sir I disagree. No.1 The Soviets lied about everything. the Soviets Denied Katyn until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. A lot of the people who discount this story are using supposed Russian records to repute the story. The Russian have a long history of challenging anything that put them in a bad light. Nothing from Russia is reputable. No 2 I agree most probably did not escape but we do not know and would never know how many attempted to escape or actually succeeded. In a study on the science of survival it suggested that 15% of people are the real survivalist. 15 % fall apart in a life or death situation. 70% become like cattle until someone tells them what to do and the last 15% will fight and think out of the box to survive. Finally I think you are very presumptuous in your assertions
There’s no trouble getting from the Russian side of the Gobi to India , South East Asia or China.
In fact, once you find the correct river in Tibet/Nepal, you could scarcely get lost.
Getting to Lhasa ? Go south east and meet the Yellow, follow it up hill, to the west, and then cross the ranges to meet the Yangze, going south east… you run into populated valleys and they have paths up and over ridges to the next valley… Go down a valley until you discover a sensible path to the next valley … So south east Tibet is easy.
Heaps of people have been documented cutting straight across the Gobi.
From the 1900’s ,eg Major Phelps Hodges, to the north koreans who need to escape NK and china, to get back to SK.
The only problem with the poles stories are any supporting evidence.
Also they poorly describe the Tibet end, because why ? because they couldn’t go to China as DIRE enemies of the communists. Westerners could,but not russia’s actual “at war” enemies… So it seems the story teller takes a version from a westerner, and modifies it, but not knowing anything about Tibet… no detail of the Tibet leg… escaping those communists ???
its sure no polish person went anywhere near Mongolia China or Tibet… You’d just go straight toward India.
I’ve just finished reading the book and was dismayed, yet still intrigued, to here of the controversy surrounding the story.
In response to the mention of Major Phelps’ crossing of the Gobi, I note that he joined a caravanserai in getting across, i.e. access to food, water and somebody who knew the route.
Still undecided about the book, but looking forward to continuing to research it!
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