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- Wolf children (German: Wolfskinder) was the name given to a group of orphaned German children at the end of World War II in East Prussia.
When the Red Army conquered East Prussia in 1945, thousands of German children were left on their own, because their parents had been killed during bombing raids or during harsh winters without any food or shelter. Older children often tried to keep their siblings together, and survival—searching for food and shelter—became their number-one priority. Many went on food-scrounging trips into neighboring Lithuania and were adopted by the rural Lithuanian farmers, who often employed them. Most of these children made these trips back and forth many times to get food for their sick mothers or siblings. They were called “wolf children” because of their wolf-like wandering through the forests and along railroad tracks, sometimes catching rides on top or in between railroad cars, jumping off before reaching Soviet control stations. All who assisted the German children to survive had to hide their efforts from the Soviet occupation authorities in Lithuania. Therefore, many German children's names were changed, and only after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 could they reveal their true identities.
This is the story of Greman girl Renata who is adopted by rural Lithuanian farmers and takes on the Lithuanian name Marytė. A book about love and compassion, revealing the tragic fate of many refugees in East Prussia and Lithuania.
- In Lithuanian, hardcover, 181 p., 9" x 6" (22 x 15cm)
- Lithuania, Vilnius
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