by Escape From the Land of Snows_The Young Dalai Lama's Flight to Freedom
3 “The Chinese captured”: Ibid.
4 “were brought on yaks”: Ibid.
5 “most precious possession”: Quoted in Feigon, p. 32.
6 “You never heard the name mentioned”: Harrer, p. 93.
7 One Khampa refugee: Tibet Oral History Project.
8 As the buglers: Quoted in Dunham, p. 255.
9 “Many of our loved ones”: Ibid., p. 207.
10 “Gyalo said”: Athar’s unpublished memoir, unpaginated.
11 “At one point”: Ibid.
12 “I could see”: Ibid.
13 “We pulled out”: Ibid.
14 “A word from the Dalai Lama”: Peissel, p. 70.
15 “When you have a piece”: Quoted in Craig, p. 210.
16 “If I was recognized”: Athar’s unpublished memoir, unpaginated.
17 “We’d send a message”: Interview with John Greaney.
18 Phala remembered: Volume 2 of an unpublished history of the Tibetan resistance movement by Lhamo Tsering, translated by Warren Smith, Jr. A rough draft of the relevent passage was published on mikeldunham.blogs.com.
19 “As things stand”: Indian Express, December 15, 1958.
20 “an unguided missile”: Interview with Ken Knaus.
21 “a constant source”: Quoted in Craig, p. 180.
22 “My classmates were all talking”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
23 “What could happen?”: Quoted in Goodman, p. 274.
Five
A RUMOR
1 This city: Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York, 1905, vol. 37, p. 184.
2 “Hail to the liberation”: Quoted in Dunham, p. 119.
3 “You are people who are lagging”: Tibet Oral History Project, testimony of Sonam Dorjee, interview #86.
4 “No one could speak their mind”: Quoted in Goodman, p. 274.
5 “Gradually, life in Lhasa:” Quoted in Tsering, p. 168.
6 “I would sacrifice”: The quote, and details of the morning of March 10, are from an interview with Lobsang Yonten.
7 “It had been our painful experience”: Dalai Lama, My Land, p. 165.
8 “By 1959”: Interview with Narkyid.
9 “The Tibetans were out of their minds”: Khetsun, p. 23.
10 “It is time”: Quoted in Shakya, p. 187.
11 “Will you be responsible”: Dalai Lama, My Land, p. 167.
12 “What are you doing?!”: Quoted in Goodman, p. 295.
13 “I didn’t know”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
14 “puffs of vapor”: Gyatso, p. 49.
15 “All the people”: Interview with Lobsang Yonten.
16 “I was surprised”: Interview with Narkyid.
17 “Chamdo had disappeared”: Gyatso, p. 50.
18 “Some in the crowd”: Interview with Tenpa Soepa.
19 “Tibetans were angry”: Interview with Pusang, former Tibetan army doctor and refugee. Dharmsala, India, January 2009.
20 “I remember saying”: Quoted in Craig, p. 215.
21 “The Lhasan people”: Dalai Lama, My Land, p. 173.
22 “From my window”: Shan Chao, Peking Review, vol. 18, May 5, 1959.
23 And he secretly admired: Dalai Lama, My Land, p. 160.
24 The CIA agent Ken Knaus: Interview with Ken Knaus.
25 “I could feel the tension”: Dalai Lama, My Land, p. 172.
26 “They are raising”: Shan Chao, Peking Review, vol. 18, May 5, 1959.
27 “They were getting”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
28 His mother was growing frantic: For Diki Tsering’s account of this day, see her memoir, Dalai Lama, My Son, pp. 168–72.
29 “Many officials”: Shakya, p. 197.
30 “Reactionary elements”: Quoted in Goodman, p. 296.
31 “You’re too young”: Interview with Lobsang Yonten.
32 One Tibetan doctor: Interview with Pusang. 87 “The main fear”: Quoted in Patt, p. 145.
33 “She was very happy”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
34 “The officials kept saying”: Interview with Lobsang Yonten.
35 “You’re too young”: Ibid.
36 “The loudspeakers were saying”: Interview with Lobsang Norbu.
37 “I was a tough guy”: Ibid.
38 “He pleaded with those”: Interview with Lobsang Khunchok.
39 “My spiritual comrades”: Ibid.
40 but they had essentially given up: Dunham, p. 201.
Six
FOREIGN BROTHERS
1 “I had an atlas”: Dalai Lama, My Land, p. 57.
2 “I wanted to be like Moses”: Patterson’s story is taken from his memoir Patterson of Tibet.
3 “George,” the British High Commissioner finally broke in: Ibid, p. 324.
4 Among them was: The sketch of Barber’s career is drawn from his obituaries in the Times, the Daily Mail, and other London newspapers.
5 “Publicity,” he notes: Interview with John Greaney.
6 “I went over”: Interview with Ken Knaus.
7 “Des was very handsome”: The portrait of FitzGerald is drawn largely from Thomas’s The Very Best Men.
8 I must say: Quoted in Thomas, p. 198.
9 “The Tibetans were people fighting”: Interview with Ken Knaus.
10 “They were very reverent”: Ibid.
11 “the heartbeat of every Tibetan”: Athar’s unpublished memoir, unpaginated.
12 “Everybody wanted to be on the Task Force”: Interview with John Greaney.
13 “One of the most romantic programs”: Thomas, p. 276.
14 When Greaney was called: Interview with John Greaney.
15 “It was a flea biting an elephant”: Thomas, p. 278.
16 The Khampas, who kept a photograph: From The Shadow Circus: The CIA in Tibet, a White Crane Films Production for BBC Television, 1998.
17 “We really felt”: Athar’s unpublished memoir, unpaginated.
Seven
ACROSS THE KYICHU
1 “It looks as if”: Shan Chao, Peking Review, vol. 18, May 5, 1959.
2 “The independent country”: Norbu, China’s Tibet Policy, p. 225.
3 “like a magnificent”: Dalai Lama, Freedom, p. 214.
4 “down to the last”: Ibid., p. 136.
5 “a blatant, outright fabrication”: Quoted in Barber, From the Land, p. 110.
6 “Within the palace”: Dalai Lama, My Land, p. 194.
7 “the odds against”: Dalai Lama, Freedom, p. 136.
8 “I roamed all over”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
9 “He must have gotten it”: Ibid.
10 “Everyone was anxious”: Ibid.
11 “stitching bags”: Ibid.
12 “I started saying good-bye”: Ibid.
13 “I have no fear”: Dalai Lama, My Land, p. 171.
14 “As I went out”: Ibid., p. 198.
15 “the saddest sight”: Barber, From the Land, p. 120.
16 “I felt like blacking out”: Interview with Mingyur, by Lobsang Wangyal, Agence France-Presse, March 17, 2004.
17 “You are like ants”: Quoted in Craig, p. 216.
18 “I needed to be very careful”: Quoted in Laird, p. 335.
19 “I was certain”: Dalai Lama, Freedom, p. 139.
20 “I don’t know what”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
21 “All of a sudden”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
22 “He was young”: Quoted in “Tibetan Officer Remembers 1959 Escape with Dalai Lama” by Matthias Williams. Reuters, March 12, 2009.
Eight
FLIGHT
1 “My feet grew numb”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
2 Later, he was ordered: Goodman, p. 308.
3 “It’s OK”: From La Fuite du Dalaï Lama, documentary film, France 2, 1999, directed by Marie Louville.
4 “rough and weary”: Dalai Lama, My Land, p. 203.
5 “His saddle was slipping”: Interview with Tendzin Choegy
al.
6 “The ancient city”: Dalai Lama, Freedom, p. 140.
7 “I was laughing”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
8 “The day after”: Dalai Lama, Freedom, p. 99.
9 “Tendzin,” he said: Quoted in Craig, p. 221.
10 “It was all new”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
11 “They knew beforehand”: Dewatshang, p. 128.
12 “If we’re going to use that bazooka”: La Fuite du Dalaï Lama.
13 “I was surprised to see”: Ibid.
14 “A great feeling”: The story of Tenpa Soepa is drawn from an interview and his memoir 20 Years of My Life in China’s Death Camp.
Nine
THE NORBULINGKA
1 “I told them”: Interview with Soepa.
2 “I felt that once”: Ibid.
3 “The situation seemed delicate”: Ibid.
4 “You don’t have to ask”: Shan Chao, Peking Review, vol. 18, May 5, 1959.
5 “I wasn’t afraid”: Interview with Lobsang Choenyi.
6 “A thick bunch”: interview with Lobsang Yonten.
7 “Staying inside”: Khetsun, p. 35.
8 “We lay there”: Interview with Lobsang Yonten.
9 “Unless the Tibetans surrender”: Quoted in Yonten, p. 26.
10 “I was extremely worried”: Ibid., p. 25.
11 There was one man: Soepa, p. 32.
12 “The hill was very steep”: Quoted in Strong, When Serfs Stood Up, p. 74.
13 “You must stay”: Narkyid’s story is drawn from an interview with the author.
14 “No account”: The statement is contained in Hutheesing, unpaginated.
15 “I really can’t begin”: Ugyen’s story is contained in Patrick French’s Tibet, Tibet, pp. 177–85.
Ten
OPIM
1 “He told me”: Ratuk Ngawang’s story is drawn from an interview with the author.
2 “Don’t play”: Quoted in Goodman, p. 309.
3 “like running”: John Greaney’s account is drawn from an interview with the author.
4 “He particulalry wanted to see”: French, p. 253.
5 “You could see”: Athar’s unpublished memoir, unpaginated.
Eleven
“GODLESS REDS VS. A LIVING GOD”
1 As the Dalai Lama: Patterson’s account is drawn from his memoir Patterson of Tibet and an e-mail interview with the author.
2 “sword-swinging priests”: New York Daily News, March 22, 1956.
3 “According to knowledgeable Tibetan sources”: Daily Telegraph, April 15, 1959.
4 “I forgot my soup”: Norbu’s story is drawn from his memoir Tibet Is My Country, beginning on p. 259.
5 “An Inspiring Message”: New York Herald Tribune Magazine, Late City Edition, March 22, 1959.
6 Outside the United Nations: The account of the Kalmuks is drawn from an article in the New York Herald Tribune, March 28, 1959.
7 “unspeakable brutalizing”: Quoted in Hutheesing, unpaginated.
8 “These rebels”: Ibid.
9 “The spirit of these reactionaries”: Ibid.
10 “I was whisked”: Barber’s account is drawn from his two books on Tibet, The Flight of the Dalai Lama and From the Land of Lost Content.
11 “Very considerate of them”: Barber, The Flight of, p. 102.
12 “It was one of the most wretched journeys”: Ibid.
13 “unrest in the city”: Barber, From the Land, p. 151.
14 “My worst fears”: Dalai Lama, Freedom, p. 141.
15 “The Chinese would have considered”: Quoted in Craig, p. 219.
16 “Why did the Chinese”: Dalai Lama, My Land, p. 207.
Twelve
THE JOKHANG
1 “The Chinese were always ready”: Narkyid’s account of his escape is drawn from an interview with the author.
2 At the summer palace: Soepa’s account of the battle for the Norbulingka is drawn from his memoir 20 Years in China’s Death Camps and an interview with the author.
3 “When the rebel bandits”: Shan Chao, Peking Review, vol. 18, May 5, 1959.
4 “At dawn”: Gyatso, p. 52.
5 One group of Sera monks: This account is drawn from an interview with Lobsang Norbu.
6 “Once three or four bullets”: Interview with Narkyid.
7 Another young monk: La Fuite du Dalaï Lama.
8 “In order to encourage”: Interview with Lobsang Yonten.
9 “I was hit”: Interview with Pusang.
10 “I felt fulfilled”: Interview with Lobsang Norbu.
11 “We had to leave her”: Interview with Lobsang Yonten.
12 “As we passed”: Yonten, p. 29.
13 “I remember”: Quoted in Chhaya, p. 116.
14 “He performed a miracle”: Interview with Lobsang Khunchok.
15 “broken beyond repair”: Norbu, Red Star, p. 155.
Thirteen
LHUNTSE DZONG
1 “It is better to be”: Quoted in Goodman, p. 310.
2 “I began”: Dalai Lama, Freedom, p. 141.
3 The crimes of the upper-strata: From the compendium Concerning the Question of Tibet. Peking: Foreign Language Press, 1959.
4 “We have deep affection”: Quoted in Barber, From the Land, p. 193.
5 “Through various intercepts”: Quoted in Dunham, p. 301.
6 “It wouldn’t have taken”: Interview with John Greaney.
7 “We were told that we had to block”: Tibet Oral History Project, testimony of Tashi (alias), interview #11.
8 “Eisenhower was delighted”: Interview with Ken Knaus.
9 “So I got there”: Interview with John Greaney.
10 “We were paupers”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
11 “We had difficulties”: Dalai Lama, interview, CNN, April 2, 2009.
12 “biplane, flying low”: Levenson, Tenzin Gyatso, p. 4.
13 “If it was Chinese”: Dalai Lama, Freedom, p. 142.
14 “Be quiet”: La Fuite du Dalaï Lama.
15 “The ancient city”: Quoted in Barber, From the Land, p. 213.
Fourteen
IN TIBETAN PRISONS
1 One pregnant Tibetan: Interview with Choekyi Namseling.
2 “We used to get so scared”: Ibid.
3 “We were kept in a small cell”: Interview with Lobsang Choenyi.
4 In one Tibetan army division: Interview with Pusang.
5 “The whole city”: Ibid.
6 “When the bullet”: Interview with Lobsang Norbu.
7 Some who lived: These accounts of the escape are taken from the interviews of the Tibet Oral History Project.
8 “There is no need”: From the account of Ani Pachen in Women at War, ed. Daniela Giosefi. New York: Feminist Press at CUNY, 2nd ed., 2003.
9 “The Chinese were pursuing”: Tibet Oral History Project, testimony of Thupten Chonphel, interview #26.
10 In the stony village: Tibet Oral History Project, testimony of Cho Lhamo, interview #92.
11 In southern Tibet: Tibet Oral History Project, testimony of Norbu Dhondup, interview #6.
12 As Lhasa fell: Soepa’s continuing account is taken from his memoir and an interview with the author.
Fifteen
THE LAST BORDER
1 “There were very few houses”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
2 “in a daze of sickness”: Quoted in Craig, p. 224.
3 “That was a powerful moment”: Quoted in Strober, p. 113.
4 “We didn’t have to pull”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
5 “It was a reality check”: Ibid.
6 “He got experience”: Interview with Narkyid.
7 “You discover a cynical brutality”: Dalai Lama and Carrière, p. 162.
8 “It forced me”: Interview with Tendzin Choegyal.
9 The race for the story: George Patterson’s continuing account is drawn from his memoir Patterson of Tibet and an e-mail interview with the author.
> 10 “briefly, the news capital”: New Yorker, December 10, 1960.
11 “Fiction is what they want”: Donald S. Connery, “Waiting for the God King,” Atlantic, March 1960, pp. 61–64.
12 “I don’t think he ever covered”: E-mail interview with Jeffrey Blyth.
13 “the people of India”: Quoted in Craig, p. 227.
14 “I was so worried”: Quoted in Hutheesing, unpaginated.
15 “He seemed”: Quoted in Strober, p. 132.
16 “the Tibetans, particularly the Khampas”: Quoted in Roberts, p. 61.
17 “You can’t have”: Quoted in Shakya, p. 153.
18 “even if”: Ibid., p. 155.
19 “The events in Tibet”: From “Memorandum of Conversation of N.S. Khrushchev and Mao Zedong.” The Cold War International History Project, Virtual Archive, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Sixteen
MEETING A POET
1 “I have heard”: from Patterson, Patterson of Tibet, epigraph.
2 “they were a far worthier”: Patterson, Requiem for Tibet, p. 191.
3 “suicidally down”: Ibid., p. 202.
4 “We were overjoyed”: Interview with John Greaney.
5 “They were incredibly disappointed”: Interview with Ken Knaus.
6 “Peace, peace”: Quoted in French, p. 253.
7 “I have no regret”: Interview with Lobsang Norbu.
8 “I suffered”: Interview with Lobsang Yonten.
9 “On the way to the toilet”: Yonten, p. 41.
10 After his capture: Soepa’s story is drawn from his memoir and an interview with the author.
11 A military doctor: Interview with Pusang.
12 The Tibet scholar: French, p. 282.
13 “I went on”: Dalai Lama, Freedom, p. 147.
14 The most revealing look: Dom Moraes, “Curious Conversation with the Dalai Lama,” Harper’s, July 1960, pp. 65–68.
15 “Given the significance”: The Dalai Lama’s speech to the Second Gulag Conference, December 6, 2000, Dharamsala, India.
16 “Nowadays, when I”: Interview with Lobsang Norbu.
17 “He said that the Chinese”: Interview with Topgay.
18 “There is a Tibetan saying”: Q&A with Dalai Lama, Boston, May 2, 2009.
19 “A few days ago”: Interview, BBC China, February 4, 2003.
20 “The refugee status”: Q&A with Dalai Lama, Boston, May 2, 2009.
21 “Brute force”: Dalai Lama, In My Own Words, p. 174.
22 “His exile was huge”: Interview with Paul Hopkins.
23 “It had been”: Tibet Oral History Project, testimony of Norbu Dhondup, interview #6.