The Long Walk

[Kip Otteson]

Hey, I just wanted to get this off my chest regarding The Long Walk.  The reason I'm writing this here is because Riv sells the book and I feel like this is my peer group and we share the same interests.  For those of you that don't know The Long Walk is a book written by a guy that escaped a Soviet concentration camp and made an epic trek to India.  I read the book in 2001 and kind of freaked out about it.  I got the number for a Richard Rawicz in England from the internet and I called him.  I asked him if he was related to Slavomir Rawicz and he said that it was his dad.  I told him I read the book and was amazed by the story and how moving it was to me.  He asked if I wanted his dad's phone number.  I couldn't believe he was still alive.  I called up Slavomir and I asked him if I could chat with him about the book.  He said that he didn't like talking on the phone so I asked him if I could come and visit him.  He said yes and to pop over.  I told him I was calling from Colorado and that I was a school teacher and I could come over during Christmas.  He said that Christmas would be fine.  This was in September.  Anyway, I booked my ticket for England.

I flew to London, rented a car, figured out how to drive on the wrong side of the road on the way to Nottingham.  I drove to Slavomir's house and I brought him a white Stetson hat and I brought his wife a nice Pendleton blanket.  After I saw how cold it was in their house I realized the blanket was an appropriate gift.  The cowboy hat was a suggestion of his son, Richard.  They love Wild West stuff in England. 

I spent two days in Nottingham with Mr. Rawicz.  I was doing research for a history project and an adventure piece I was working on. I was working to recreate the Long Walk on a bicycle.  I wanted to ride the route he sketched in the book and somehow connect with a generation of people that I greatly admire.  In my research I contacted the Royal Air Force to get documentation about Rawicz' flight school he outlines in the book.  They said they had no records.  I contacted the Polish Army and looked into their records for him.  No records.  I contacted the Gulag Survivor's Society and they said they indeed were aware of the claims regarding a "Camp 303" but that it didn't exist.  It became clear to me that the story was fishy.  I felt terrible about having a relationship with this cool guy but not believing his story.  I cut off communication with the family and I dropped the project.  I didn't want to have to question the story's legitimacy.  When he described the story to me he was in tears.  He obviously experienced something very real. 

I just recently read the wikipedia info on the book and the BBC apparently did a expose in 2006.  Anyway, it's a bummer that the story isn't true.  I felt bad the same way I felt when I found out the 3 Cups of Tea story was also fabricated.

Not to be a downer, but I never spilled the beans about The Long Walk because I liked the Rawicz family so much.  So there it is.  Off the chest. 

[Doug Magney]

I just finished the book a couple weeks ago. Although it is a fascinating story, I found some parts rather hard to believe. From what I know of wilderness survival, it is nearly impossible for humans to survive 10 days with no water as the author claims in the account of crossing the Gobi. No food, yes; no water, no. I want to believe that the story is based on actual events, and perhaps it is. However, my feeling is that it is not a fully true account.