In order to avoid persecution, the Lykov family ran away to the deep Siberian wilderness in 1937. They belonged to a branch of the Orthodox church called "<em>The Old Believers</em>". If they had not fled, they would have been killed because of their beliefs. They settled in a remote area, by the side of a river in the forest, in a cold and unwelcoming place where the temperature can reach minus 40 in winter. Agafia, the youngest daughter was born in 1943. She had 2 older brothers and one sister, but now she is the only one still alive. The family managed labouriously to survive on its own. They were self-sufficient, but they did not always eat their fill when crops were bad. The mother even died of starvation in 1961...