Below you will see a book report that I completed after reading The Endless Steppe. As part of this project we were required to read a historical novel and answer questions about major characters, the historical time period/events, and much more. This novel centers around a young girl by the name of Esther. Esther, along with her family, was sent out of their home to work at camps and survive with little to nothing during war time. This was a very intriguing, heart-touching, engaging, and informative novel, so I would definitely recommend it.
Title of Book: The Endless Steppe
Genre of Literature (historical fiction or nonfiction): Non-fiction
Author: Esther Hautzig
Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher
Copyright Date: 1968
Number of pages (150-page minimum): 243 Pages
Setting(s): Vilna, Poland, and a small town in Siberia, Russia, called Rubtsovsk.
Main Characters:
-Esther Rudomin: Esther is the main character in this novel, and we view this novel from her point of view. She is a young girl who is deported with her family to Siberia, where she is forced to work. Esther is then able to move into a small Siberian town, where she attends school, knits, and makes a lot of friends.
-Samuel(Tata) Rudomin: Samuel is Esther’s father. Samuel, also called Tata, is shipped to Siberia with the family, where he is forced to saddle animals that carry supplies. Later in this novel, Tata moves into town with his family, but is then forced to go into war for a long time.
-Raya Rudomin: Raya is Ether’s mother. Raya is deported with her family to Siberia, where she is forced to work in a gypsum mine. Raya moves into town with her family, and works at a factory in order to earn as much of an income as she can to support her family (While Tata is at war).
-Sara: Sara is Esther’s grandmother in this novel. Sara travels with the family, is forced to work in the gypsum mine, and later lives in Rubtsovsk with the Rudomin family. Sara is later forced to live in a separate home than Esther and Raya, as there wasn’t enough room in the home that they were renting.
In about 100 words, provide a brief summary of the plot of the book. Include the time period in which it takes place.
In the early 1940s, Russian soldiers forced Esther and her family into trucks and away from their perfect life/house in Vilna, Poland. Upon traveling by train with a lack of daily necessities, the family arrived at a gypsum mine in Siberia, where they were forced to work. After a few months, the family is allowed to find their own jobs and move into small huts outside the town of Rubtsovsk. After living in this hut with many families for a while, the family decides that it would be best to move into town so that Esther can go to school. The family moves from house to house living with people of the town, until they move into their own house. The family then begins to make their house their own and Esther starts a new school where she becomes best friends with a girl named Svetlana. Esther also begins to knit to provide the family with food, as her father is forced to work on the front lines of the Russian army. After a long and harsh winter, the family finally received a letter that a train will be coming and they can return home! Upon reaching Lodz, Poland, Esther, her grandmother, and her mother are reunited with Samuel! The family also received an unwelcoming responses from the new inhabitants in Poland.
From whose point of view is the book told? How does this influence the story?
This book is told from the point of view of Esther, a young girl who is arrested alongside her family by the Russians. This point of view greatly influences the novel. Many novels similar to this story has the point of view of an adult. By having the point of view of a child, the reader gets to see what life would be like as a kid during the 1940s. Esther reveals to the reader many insights as to what deported kids did, if they went to school, what they wore, if they worked, etc. But, many other novels that have adult orientated point of views don’t reveal what life was like for kids, instead they focus on the work and actions of adults.
What is the most important event in the book? Why is it the most important? When does this event take place in the book (page numbers)?
I believe that the most important event occured when the two Russian soldiers came to the Rudomin home in Vilna and claimed that they were all under arrest. The soldiers claimed that they were under arrest because they were capitalists and therefore enemies of the people. The soldiers then gave the family 10 minutes to gather their things and ordered them onto a truck with many other families. All of this occurred very early in the novel and is found on pages 12 to 18. I believe that this is the most significant event because without such actions, the rest of the novel wouldn’t have existed. Because of such an event, the family was moved to Siberia, they learned how to value the things that they had, and they began to grow closer to one another. In short, the families arrest is what began their journey to adapt to living in Siberia with little to nothing.
Choose one character – Give a more detailed description of their role in the book, and then compare them to someone you know personally today. Use two quotes from the book to help illustrate your description – cite page numbers where the quotes are found.
One character in this novel is Yosif Isayevich. This was one of the fellow townspeople in Rubtsovsk, Russia. This man was willing to let Esther and her mother live in his home. Yosif also treated them with much respect, kept his house very warm for them, offered them much food, and even provided a loud-speaker for them to listen to. It is stated, “Yosif Isayevich…shared his food generously, kept his wooden house warm, and treated Mother with great respect” (Hautzig 182). Without this man, I feel that Esther and her mother wouldn’t have had enough food or even enough supplies to comfortably survive/live. Esther stated, “Sitting in Yosif Isayevich’s warm kitchen, listening to music, Mother and I would be filled with wonder at our good fortune” (Hautzig 183). Yosif Isayevich reminds me of Pastor Bill Steinbauer, or Noel’s Father. Mr. Steinbauer is one of the most generous people I know. He is always willing to loan out his basement or allow families to live in his home if they are unable to rent their own house/apartment. Mr. Steinbauer is so giving and generous when it comes to housing, food, and other necessities. For this reason, I feel that he is fairly comparable to Yosif Isayevich.
Use two quotes from the book to show new things you have learned about this time period in history. Explain what each quote helped you to better know or understand – cite page numbers.
Before reading this novel, I didn’t know much about World War 2 (Which occured in the 1940s). But, after reading this novel, I was able to have more of a grasp on the major events that occurred during this war. I was able to understand that Germany and the Soviet Union signed a pact to invade Poland and split up the land. This allowed me to understand this quote found in the novel. The Russian soldiers at Esther’s house stated, “‘…you are capitalists and therefore enemies of the people…you are to be sent to another part of our great and mighty country…’” (Hautzig 12). Throughout this book and this quote I was able to understand just how much the Russians, mostly Russian soldiers/leaders, disliked the Polish people throughout the 1940s. But, there were a few Russian citizens who didn’t mind the Polish, and even opened their homes to many Polish people (As found all throughout the later part of the book and this time period). Secondly, I was able to learn just how hard this time period was for the Polish. The Polish, as you know, were forced away from their homes. Many were forced to work, while others were killed in concentration camps. After reading this novel, I was able to learn just how lacking in supplies the Polish were. Many were quickly forced to gather their belongings and bring with them all that they could carry (Which wasn’t very much). We even see Esther and her family have a lack of supplies/daily necessities. It is stated, “Mother used up almost all of the potatoes we had in the cellar (potatoes that we had expected to last at least another month)” (Hautzig 151). Esther and her family were often trying to find different jobs or chores that they could perform to earn some extra food to make up for the lack of this daily necessity. Without finding good paying jobs, and not being able to bring lots of supplies with them from their home, this time period for many of the Polish was extremely tough.
How might our world be different today if the historical events in your book had turned out differently? Use two different examples to explain your answer.
Our world would have been totally different if these events wouldn’t have happened. As you know, when the Soviets invaded Poland, many of the people from Poland were forced to live in concentration camps, gypsum mines, or deported to other countries. Also, as you may or may not know, thousands of Polish people were killed by attending such concentration camps. In our novel though, Esther and her family are fortunate enough to only work in the gypsum mine for a short amount of time, until they are free to live on their own. If Esther, her family, and many of the other families in this novel would have been shipped off to brutal/violent concentration camps, even more people from Poland would have been killed and the Polish population would have decreased VERY significantly. Even today the Polish community would probably be smaller, some generations would be non-existent, and the whole dynamic and makeup of Polish culture would have been slightly altered. Secondly, the world would have been totally different today if Russian soldiers wouldn’t have deported so many of the Polish people. Instead of deporting that many people, if the Soviets would have simply restricted the limits of the Polish and let them stay in their homes in Poland, our world today would be much different. To start, more of the Polish would have survived instead of dying from starvation, cold, or in concentration camps (The Polish population would be greater and there would be many different Polish generations today). Also, the Jewish population in Poland would be even larger today if many wouldn’t have been deported and then killed in labor camps.
What are three life lessons that can be learned from this book – how does each apply to your life?
- One major life lesson that I can learn from this book is to value the things that I have. In Vilna, Esther lived each day by going through the motions. But, it wasn’t until she was forced to move to Siberia did she realize all that she had before. She realized that even wearing a pair of shoes and having a garden like the one in Vilna was a blessing. So, I can also learn to value the things that I have right now. I can learn to value my friends, my family, my house, and my possessions because those things can change very quickly just as it did to Esther.
- Secondly, I can also learn from this novel to never give up. Esther and her family would have had a perfect excuse to give up. Their life was very hard, tiring, and physically difficult. They were very poor and they often worried about where their next meal would come from. But, their family never gave up. Even when Tata was sent away and they had a lack of income and food, they still worked their hardest to find ways in which they can survive. So, I can learn that even though my life isn’t even close to being as hard as theirs, when a tough time is happening, I can remember to keep working and trying (For it will all be alright in the end). For example, when there is a tough test or volleyball match, I can learn to keep trying my best and my hardest, then I will be more successful and everything will work out.
- Lastly, I can learn from this novel the importance of being kind to those around you. As you know, Esther and her family were deported to Siberia, where they were able to move to a small village and live in a small house. In that town, Esther, her mother, and her grandma were very kind to those around them, which made the move much easier. Also, by being kind to those around them, many people gifted items of food such as potatoes or sunflower seeds to the Rudomin Family. In our life today, we should also be kind to those around us. By being kind to others, we can create relationships and feel more comfortable with new surroundings. Also, by being kind to others around us, others may also reciprocate such kindness back to us!
If you were to give this book an alternate title, what would it be? Explain why.
Although the title of this novel is very creative, I would like to give it a title with meaning that contributes to small but often important parts of this book. I would give this book the title “All for Potatoes.” After being sent to a gypsum mine in Siberia, the prisoners are all assigned jobs. The children were forced to pick weeds in fields, so that the potatoes could grow and everyone in the camp could survive the winter. Also, upon being freed from the camp, the Rudomin family, along with many other families, move into barracks. After becoming board of spending each day sitting in the barracks, Esther spent her days in the cold potato patches, looking for potatoes that might have been overlooked by the owners of the land. With small rations, such potatoes were a blessing. Lastly, upon moving into their own, small home, again the food supply for the upcoming winter was becoming bare. So, Esther began to take up knitting and fellow citizens exchanged such knitting for bags of potatoes. In short, because the food was so scarce for them, and because a lot of Esther’s time was spent working so that her family could have potatoes, I believe that the title should reflect the work put into survival.
Explain in about 50 words why you would or would not recommend this book to your classmates.
I would definitely recommend this book to one of my classmates. I would recommend this book because of how intriguing it is. I love how this book is told in story form, which keeps the reader interested. The reader seeks to know what will happen next to the family. But, not only does it reveal a very interesting story, it also includes some facts which helps you to become more familiar with this time period and this war. Secondly, I would recommend this book to one of my classmates because of the point of view it is told from. This novel is told from the point of view of a young girl. Because many of my classmates are close to her age, my classmates would be able to know how it would feel to be a child/teenager during such a tough time. I believe that being able to relate to a book makes a novel even more interesting to read.
Cite any sources beyond the book that you used to complete this project.
–http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/the-endless-steppe-growing-up-in-si/characters.htm gsc.tab=0
–https://prezi.com/dutsc7y-ee9g/the-endless-steppe/
–https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_repressions_of_Polish_citizens_(1939–1946)
