He spent five years in British internment camps, mostly at Dehra Dun, within sight of the Himalayas, which he still intended to climb. Harrer, along with the others, was captured. But as they were completing preparations in British-occupied India in 1939, war broke out.

He joined a team financed by Germans - some believed for Nazi propaganda - which planned to scale the previously unclimbed Nanga Parbat, a 26,660-foot mountain in Kashmir, in northern India. In 1938, he was one of four men who first scaled the treacherous north face of Switzerland’s 13,025-foot Eiger.įifteen men had died trying that route, dubbed the “murder wall.” After completing the trek, Harrer wrote: “I was conscious of the privilege of having been allowed to live.” Adolf Hitler personally congratulated him and was photographed with Harrer and his teammates.īut it was Harrer’s next proposed expedition that changed his life and intrigued Hollywood half a century later.

My conscience is clear on my record during the Hitler regime.”ĭirector Jean-Jacques Annaud, who told The Times he had suspected Harrer’s Nazi background, altered the script to reflect Harrer’s Nazi affiliation.Įven before the release of the film, Harrer was well known for his exploits, some dating to the ‘30s. “And it is a philosophy that leads me to condemn as strongly as possible the horrible crimes of the Nazi period.

and places great emphasis on human life and human dignity,” Harrer said in a statement following the meeting. “My personal political philosophy grew out of my life in Tibet.

Seven years in tibet novel