Yelena Kostereva

In Pavel Olevantsev’s family suddenly comes news that his daughter by another woman was orphaned. Pavel did not know about the existence of the girl, nor could his wife know about it... It is not easy to decide to take the child to his house. But it will be much more difficult to endear the girl to them, to return her the joy of childhood and the belief that she is not alone...

Six years old Vitya lives with his parents in the Army base where he meets new friends and has a lot of adventures.

Beginning of WWII. Zinaida, a Russian woman, is taken prisoner by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp together with several other women. She is imprisoned with her baby son, Gena, who is learning to walk and takes his first steps in the snow, in the concentration camp. They spend a few years together in the camp until they are separated, first within Auschwitz itself, then, for good, when the Germans are losing the war and decide to evacuate.