On February 10th, 1940, 8-year-old Ziuta and her family are woken at 3:00am by banging on their front door. Young Ziuta has no idea why her family is being arrested by Russian soldiers, where they are being taken to, or when they will return to their home in Poland.

One Star Away is a historical account of my mother and her family’s deportation to the slave labor camps of the USSR at the outbreak of World War II. The Nowicki family suffers starvation, arctic temperatures, and separation. After 2 years of unimaginable hardships, they escape their gulag and make an arduous journey to Kuibyshev, where a Polish Embassy was established. Only a miracle would keep the Nowicki family alive. A kindhearted Maharaja from faraway India would prove to be that miracle and save hundreds of dying Polish children. When no other country at the time accepted Polish war refugees, India, a country with no cultural, social, or geographical similarity or connection, welcomed thousands of Polish orphans with open arms.

Based on actual events and characters, One Star Away teaches that human compassion can be found in the most remote corners of the world.