'I taught the Dalai Lama'
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 19 February 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1944, two Austrian mountaineers fled into the forbidden land of Tibet to escape from a prisoner-of-war camp in India.
Heinrich Harrer and his friend Peter Aufschnaiter spent seven years there.
Harrer became a tutor to the young Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader.
He later wrote a famous account of his visit called Seven Years in Tibet.
Simon Watts presented and produced this episode in 2016, using interviews with Harrer from the BBC Archive.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.
(Photo: Portrait of the young Dalai Lama. Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | In 2019, we began investigating the disappearance of Dr. Ruzha Ignatva. |
| 0:14.0 | I believe we are a very special network. |
| 0:16.0 | A scammer who stole billions from investors around the world. |
| 0:21.4 | She's on the FBI's 10 most wanted list. |
| 0:24.5 | And now we have some unmissable updates. |
| 0:27.8 | She has money and when you have money, you have power. |
| 0:30.6 | Join me, Jamie Bartlett, as the hunt for the missing crypto queen continues. |
| 0:35.5 | Listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:42.6 | Thank you. This in Crypto Queen continues. Listen first on BBC Sounds. Hi, this is Witness History from the BBC World Service. If you're a regular listener, |
| 0:47.2 | you can skip the next 20 seconds, but if you're new here, welcome, with a podcast that takes |
| 0:51.4 | you back to a key moment in world history by speaking to someone who was there. |
| 0:55.4 | Episodes are just nine minutes long and come out every weekday. |
| 0:58.1 | If you like the sound of that, please hit subscribe |
| 0:59.8 | and turn your push notifications on so you never miss an episode. |
| 1:03.7 | Today, we're going into the BBC archives to hear about the young Dalai Lama's tutor, |
| 1:08.4 | the Austrian explorer, Hymerich Hara. |
| 1:10.7 | In the 1940s and 50s, he spent seven years as a fugitive in Tibet, |
| 1:15.0 | and later wrote a famous account of his visit, seven years in Tibet. |
| 1:19.1 | Here's Simon Watts' programme, first broadcast in 2016. |
| 1:31.6 | It's early 1946. |
| 1:39.5 | After a journey lasting two years, two Austrian mountaineers finally reached the fabled city of Lassa. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.