White Menace

The winter of 1954 was one of the most brutal our country has ever seen. Heavy snowfall buried roads, people and houses. At first, people withdrew and hid from the snow, but soon they decided to fight back. They started recapturing what had been taken away from them: their homes, machinery and land. Civilians and members of the army joined forces to fight against the nature. Roads and railways where cleared. Food, newspapers and mail were delivered to cities and villages around the country. But then the “enemy” had changed tactics. Raging avalanches slid down mountain slopes and people had to invest a lot of effort to clean the roads again. At the same time, rivers were blocked by ice that threatened to destroy bridges if not broken up. The sound of dynamite explosions blasting the frozen rivers bid farewell to the winter which had been defeated by men.