Fascinating story online on the Smithsonian Magazine website about a family of Old Believers, a religious group in the Soviet Union, who retreated deep into the forests of Siberia prior to World War II. They were not noticed until 1978 when petroleum engineers were exploring energy producing sites. The family had not had contact with anyone in the outside world for almost 40 years. They lived off the land and often were starving as a result. The mother did die of starvation when a long, cold Siberian spring damaged any food crop they had.

Tags: Smithsonian, History