Esther Hautzig

Esther Rudomin Hautzig is acclaimed for her novel The Endless Steppe, a riveting story that details her experience in exile on the Siberian steppes. Before her upheaval into exile, Hautzig lived a pleasant childhood with her family in Poland, where she was born on October 18, 1930. After World War II broke out, Soviet armies conquested her region of Poland and deported her whole family to Siberia for their political sympathies. From 1941 until the end of the war, Hautzig's family braved the severe conditions of life on the steppes, after which they were able to return to Poland. Hautzig's tale of their hardship has won numerous awards, as has her Jewish heritage-inspired folktale, Riches. Hautzig lives in New York City with her husband, the pianist Walter Hautzig. Her two children have also written children's literature.