In the Middle of the Way

The name Akhto Levi is known to readers from his books: “Notes of the Gray Wolf,” “Running Away from the Shadow of One’s Own Self,” and “The Smile of Fortune.” His new novel “In the Middle of the Road” is a direct continuation of his earlier books. It is a monologue of a man who recalls his former wayward life, the years of imprisonment and wandering, and the people he met along the path of life.

L. A. Lippu (pseudonym Akhto Levi) was born in Estonia. In 1944 he was mobilized into the German army. He served in units responsible for servicing airfields. He was evacuated from Estonia together with the retreating units of the Fascist army. After the defeat of Fascist Germany, he was interned in the USSR. He was held in a filtration camp, stayed there for several months, and escaped. There was nowhere for L. A. Lippu to go, so he returned home. Soon he was arrested again and went to trial. Following the court’s verdict, he was sent into exile in Siberia. From there, too, he managed to escape, reached Estonia, hid for several months, and then joined the “Forest Brothers.” The main reason he went to the forest was that he was told his father had died at the hands of Soviet secret police. But the truth came to light: Akhto Levi learned that his father was killed by Estonian nationalists, and one of the killers was the commander of a Forest Brothers unit. A dispute escalated into a shootout. As a result, Akhto Levi killed two people, including the commander. He could no longer stay in the forest. And when he returned home, he was arrested again—this time he was sent to Upper Kama region. There he again escaped. But where could he go? And Akhto Levi himself surrendered to the first policeman he met. His final years of imprisonment were spent in a camp in the settlement of Mys’ya, Solikamsk district.