The Ice Road by Stefan Waydenfeld
From The Jerusalem Post
THE ICE ROAD is about an interesting, original Russian method of transportation. Timber, the main product of the far north, has to be transported over long distances, usually by water. But first it has to be moved from the depths of the forest to the nearest river. The ice road is made by water poured over meter-high snow, compacted with the aid of a heavy roller. Such a "road" allows a single horse to pull up to six cubic meters of the precious timber.
The upkeep of such ice roads is an exhausting process. It was but one of the many gruelling tasks performed by the author and over one million Polish and Jewish prisoners, mainly refugees, designated by Stalin as "enemies of the people" and deported to infamous Gulags and outlying "free settlements." They performed hard physical work under squalid conditions, suffered from hunger, vermin and various diseases during the nine-month-long Arctic winter.
The author presents us with a severe, if frequently amusing, indictment of the Soviet system and bureaucracy. At least half of the timber gathered with such effort was lost, stolen or left rotting on the way to its destination.
As a former Gulag inmate I was amazed by the author's excellent memory and the book's authenticity. There are hardly any exaggerations, and all is told as if it happened yesterday. Each chapter is a well-written gem in a lengthy, epic story.
The author, a retired physician who lives in London, left Russia for Iran with units of the Polish Army. While there are many books covering similar subjects, this frank biography of a 16-year-old boy battling the Soviet regime and taking care of his family stands out as an original, well-told and valuable document.
To buy 'The Ice Road' worldwide: The Ice Road