Happy 75th, Esther Hautzig! ("The Endless Steppe")

[leno...@yahoo.com]

Born in Vilna, Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania), she was sent to NYC in
1947 and now lives there.

Married to Vienna-born concert pianist Walter Hautzig.

>From "Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults":

Esther Rudomin Hautzig is best known for her National Book
Award-nominated autobiography The Endless Steppe: Growing up in
Siberia. In the book she tells of her early life as the daughter of
well-to-do Polish Jews. When she was ten years old, the Soviet Union
and Nazi Germany signed a non-aggression pact, invaded her Polish
homeland, and partitioned it between them. She, her parents, and her
grandparents were arrested by the Soviets--because, being wealthy, they
were considered capitalists and therefore "enemies of the State"--and
sent to Siberia. "After six weeks in cattle cars we were deposited in
Rubtsovsk, a tiny village in the Altai region of Siberia," Hautzig
wrote in her introduction to Remember Who You Are: Stories about Being
Jewish. Hautzig grew up on the desolate steppes of Siberia and learned
to love them.

The Nazis broke their alliance with the Soviets by invading Russia in
1941. At that time all the Polish prisoners were given amnesty, but
because of the war they could not return home. This was perhaps just as
well; the German army occupied Vilna, the town where Esther was born,
in the summer of 1941, and most of her relatives who were not sent to
Siberia were killed by the Nazis "in street actions," stated Hautzig in
Remember Who You Are, "or slaughtered in Ponar," the killing ground
outside Vilna where people were taken to dig their own graves and then
shot into them. "Except for two of my mother's cousins, an aunt and the
child of a cousin in Kovno, none survived the Holocaust."

Writings

(Under name Esther Rudomin) Let's Cook without Cooking: 55 Recipes
without a Stove, illustrated by Lisl Weil, Crowell (New York, NY),
1955.

Let's Make Presents: 100 Easy-to-Make Gifts under $1.00, illustrated by
Ava Morgan, Crowell (New York, NY), 1962.

Redecorating Your Room for Practically Nothing, illustrated by Sidonie
Coryn, Crowell (New York, NY), 1967.

The Endless Steppe: Growing up in Siberia, Crowell (New York, NY),
1968.

Cool Cooking: 16 Recipes without a Stove, illustrated by Jan Pyk,
Lothrop (New York, NY), 1973.

Let's Make More Presents: Easy and Inexpensive Gifts for Every
Occasion, illustrated by Ray Skibinski, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1973.

(Translator and adaptor from the Yiddish) I. L. Peretz, The Case
against the Wind and Other Stories, illustrated by Leon Shtainmets,
Macmillan (New York, NY), 1975.

Life with Working Parents: Practical Hints for Everyday Situations,
illustrated by Roy Doty, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1976.

A Gift for Mama (juvenile), illustrated by Donna Diamond, Viking (New
York, NY), 1981.

Christmas Goodies, illustrated by Kelly Oechsli, Happy House
Books/Random House (New York, NY), 1981.

Holiday Treats, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1983.

(Translator and adaptor from the Yiddish) I. L. Peretz, The Seven Good
Years and Other Stories, Jewish Publication Society (Philadelphia, PA),
1984.

Make It Special, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1986.

Remember Who You Are: Stories about Being Jewish (biographical
sketches), Crown (New York, NY), 1990.

On the Air: Behind the Scenes at a TV Newscast, Macmillan (New York,
NY), 1991.

Riches (juvenile), HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1992.

"FOUR LANGUAGES" SERIES: ALL CONTAIN TEXT IN ENGLISH, SPANISH, FRENCH,
AND RUSSIAN

In the Park: An Excursion in Four Languages, illustrated by Ezra Jack
Keats, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1968.

At Home: A Visit in Four Languages, illustrated by Aliki, Macmillan
(New York, NY), 1968.

In School: Learning in Four Languages, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian,
Macmillan (New York, NY), 1969.

Lenona.