This work was originally written by the author in German and published in 2011 in Karl Dietz Verlag, Berlin under the title “In der Verbannung. Kindheit und Jugend einer Wolgadeutschen" (In exile. Childhood and youth of a German woman from the Volga region). A year later, L. German began writing this book in Russian. A serene childhood in her homeland in the village of Marienthal. Then the village of Stepnoy Kuchuk, in Altai, which became a second home. Extreme poverty, the arrest of her father, whom she never saw again. Tragic events, difficult living conditions, but youth remains youth... And happiness came.