Overview

In 1939, Michael Krupa was preparing to take his final vows in a Jesuit seminary in the south-east of Poland, unaware that his life was about to change in the most unimaginable way. Several moths later, after absconding from the seminary to play his part in the valiant yet doomed attempt to resist Hitler’s invasion, he was arrested in Soviet-occupied eastern Poland and accused of spying. His living nightmare began with interrogation and torture in Moscow’s notorious Lubianka prison, and continued in the Pechora Gulag, where he faced a cruel and harsh environment in which most prisoners were worked and starved to death within a year. Yet, unbelievably, he escaped, and in the chaos following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union made the gruelling journey from Siberia to safety in Afghanistan.

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9781843410126

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Reviews

'gives an in-depth picture of both the terror and a land at war, where man is desperate for liberty and security in an almost superhuman urge to survive' * Sudock * 'an extraordinary testimony to the strength of the human spirit when it has to contend with beasts in human form. Anyone who still hankers after Stalin's Russia should be made to read it, and repent. The rest of us can read it and admire his strength of heart' * Michael Foot *

Michael Krupa's account of his experiences as a prisoner in Stalin's Russia is an inspiring piece of writing. Though he writes almost as a detached observer of his own terrors and suffering at the hands of a brutal dictatorship, the strong narrative of a prisoner striving for freedom brings alive every step of Krupa's incredible journey. From the torture cells of prison, to the Siberian death camps, escapes from wolves, outwitting Soviet officials whilst on the run and finally to a dramatic escape across the mountains to Afghanistan, Krupa holds the reader in an icy grip of appalled fascination, admiration and sheer exhilaration. This is boy's own adventure material, yet more powerful than any thriller because such dreadful and horrific events are true and told with a simple honesty which gives the reader the chance to bear witness to one man's struggle for liberty. You will never forget Krupa's story and the people he encounters on his flight from the Gulag. A tremendous, chilling, uplifting book. (Kirkus UK)

an extraordinary testimony to the strength of the human spirit when it has to contend with beasts in human form. Anyone who still hankers after Stalin's Russia should be made to read it, and repent. The rest of us can read it and admire his strength of heart' - Michael Foot; 'gives an in-depth picture of both the terror and a land at war, where man is desperate for liberty and security in an almost superhuman urge to survive - In Sudock

Author Information

Michael Krupa was born in Rudnik, near Krakow, and trained to be a Jesuit before joining the 13th regiment of the Polish cavalry in 1937. After his extraordinary exploits during the Second World War he moved to Britain and settled in West Yorkshire.

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