Henrich Harrer published 23 Books about his adventures in Alaska, Los Andes and Uganda, But it was his trip through the Himalayas in the forties, narrated in seven years at the Tibet, who made it one of the fundamental authors to understand this mythical region. A story that has inspired thousands of adventurers and became even more famous in 1997, For the movie of the same name that won nine Oscar awards.
It n all the whole píf, A man who once hugged the ideas of Nazism and who became part of the SS -the Nazi secret police and Hitler's personal guard -, became another. Heinrich Harrer arrived by accident in Lhasa, The prohibited city of Tibet, And he stayed to live there for seven years, Between Buddhist monks and prayer flags floating in the wind. To the 37 years became the tutor and best friend of the tenth fourth Dalai Lama, and in 1954 published what is considered one of the fundamental works on this mythical region: Seven years in the Tibet. A book that not only changed the way of seeing and understanding this part of Asia -and what happened there, especially after the invasion of the Chinese army in 1950-, but it also became a kind of treaty on how a person can leave a life to start a different one on the other side of the world.
"Mientras miraba las banderas de oraciones que anunciaban mi salida de Lhasa, I realized that seven years had passed since I had crossed that same threshold (…). Already outside the Tibet, After many years I was among Europeans again. They looked at me strangely, y yo me sentía un extraño entre ellos", Harrer says in his book, that to date has been translated into 53 languages.
Born in 1912 en Hüttenberg, Austria, Heinrich Harrer grew up dreaming of being a famous mountaineer. in 1938, con 26 years, He succeeded: It was part of the first group of men who conquered the top of the northern face of the Eiger, In the Swiss Alps. A year later he was invited to the expedition that would try to upload the Nanga Parbat, uno de los "ochomiles" Del Himalayas, which finally led him to Lhasa, The capital of Tibet and Home of Dalai Lama. At that time it was a practically unexplored place. "Solo había tres lugares en el mapa del Tíbet que trajimos con nosotros, pero ahora lo hemos llenado con más de doscientos nombres", Write Harrer.
The Nanga Parbat expedition (that at that time it belonged to India; Today corresponds to Pakistan) was led by also Austrian Peter AUFSCHNAITER, And soon he had problems. World War II had exploded and in India they were arrested by English officers and taken as prisoners to a camp in the area. After three attempts to escape, Harrer, AUFSCHNAITER and other colleagues managed to flee and finally arrived in Lhasa, he 15 of January of 1946. This is how Harrer tells in his book: "A medida que nos acercábamos, The golden roofs of the Potala Palace rose higher and higher in front of us. When we finally saw the great fence guarded by three guards, Our emotion was intense (…). But there was nothing, neither soldiers nor control stalls at the entrance, así que nos mezclamos con un grupo de locales y atravesamos inadvertidos las grandes puertas".
The emotion, however, It lasted little. Unlike other villages of Tibet and Nepal who had arrived asking for asylum, In Lhasa foreigners were not welcome. "Los sirvientes de las casas a las que tocábamos la puerta en busca de comida y agua nos imploraban que nos fuéramos, But it was too tired and hunger. Suddenly, All people around us stopped crying for our presence. Habían visto nuestros pies heridos y sintieron lástima". Over time, Harrer and AUFSCHNAITER became some more inhabitants of Tibet. "En el Tíbet uno no se siente perseguido de la mañana a la noche por el llamado de la 'civilización'. Here, one has the time to stay busy with religion, y llamar al alma como algo propio".
But it was a few years later, in 1949, When the most significant event of his trip occurred. By then, Harrer had become the tutor and best friend of Dalai Lama, A child of just 14 years that, According to Harrer, "parecía una persona que por años había meditado en silencio sus problemas, And now that I could finally talk to someone about it, quería saber todas las respuestas al mismo tiempo".
After leaving Lhasa in 1951 Because of the invasion of the Chinese army in the Tibet, Harrer launched the story of his experience, which he published in 1954. The Austrian only returned to this city in 1982. What he found there was a culture devastated by military camps. The great fence no longer existed, Nor many of the monasteries, schools and houses. A report from 1993, posted by The New York Times, daba cuenta de la importancia del registro de Harrer. "Sin las fotografías de Siete años en el Tíbet, there would be, in fact, muy poca evidencia de la riqueza cultural que alguna vez llenó la inmensidad de los Himalayas", says that text.
in 1997 The film based on his book was released, Brad Pitt starred. However, just one month after its premiere, German magazine Stern published an article where Nazi de Harrer was revealed: to the 21 Years had registered in the game when it was still illegal in Austria, To later be part of Hitler's SS. Harrer explained that in those years he never committed any crime or atrocity, And that the real reason to join them was to lead the Austrian skiing group sponsored by the Nazi party, although years later he admitted to being regretded from his mistake.
Heinrich Harrer died in 2006 to the 93 years, having published 23 Books about his adventures in places as remote as Alaska or Uganda. But, definitely, It was his experience in the Tibet that most marked him. "Donde sea que viva, I will feel nostalgia of the Tibet. Many times I think of the cries of wild geese and cranes, And how they beat their wings when they flew on Lhasa at clear and cold nights. Mi corazón desea que mi historia pueda crear alguna clase de entendimiento sobre personas cuyo anhelo por vivir en paz y libertad ha tenido tan poca simpatía por parte de un mundo indiferente".
