Esther Hautzig was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 writer, best known for her award-winning book The Endless Steppe

The Endless Steppe

The Endless Steppe is a book by Esther Hautzig, describing her and her family's exile to Siberia during World War II....

(1968).

She was born in Vilna, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 (Vilnius, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

 today). Her childhood was interrupted by the beginning of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and the conquest in 1941 of eastern Poland by Soviet troops. Her family was uprooted and deported to Rubtsovsk

Rubtsovsk

Rubtsovsk is a city in Altai Krai, Russia, located on the Aley River southwest of Barnaul. Population: 167,000 ; 111,000 ; 38,000 ....

, Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

, where Esther spent the next five years in harsh exile. Her award winning novel The Endless Steppe is an autobiographical account of those years in Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

.

After the end of the war, Esther and her family moved back to Poland when she was 15. She met Walter Hautzig

Walter Hautzig

-Biography:Hautzig studied under Mieczysław Munz. He has taught master classes to hundreds of students all around the world. He has done tours in Japan over 30 times and has performed for President Jimmy Carter...

, a concert pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

, while enroute to America on a students' visa in 1947. They married in 1950, and had two children, David and Deborah

Deborah Hautzig

Deborah Hautzig is the author of several children's books, including the Little Witch series.- Biography :She is the daughter of Walter Hautzig and Esther Hautzig. She went to The Chapin School in New York....

, one of whom (Deborah) grew up to be a children's author.

She wrote `The Endless Steppe' at the prompting of Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson, to whom she had written after reading his articles about his visit to Rubtsovsk

Rubtsovsk

Rubtsovsk is a city in Altai Krai, Russia, located on the Aley River southwest of Barnaul. Population: 167,000 ; 111,000 ; 38,000 ....

.

She died on 1 November 2009 from a combination of congestive heart failure and complications from Alzheimers Disease.