9 
You’ve probably heard stories of Japanese soldiers who, stranded on some remote island in the Pacific, thought the war never ended. But the Lykovs’ story is even more outlandish than that. Karp Lykov and his family had never even heard of World War II — its beginning or its end. Nothing at all. In fact, they lived in the Siberian taiga without any human contact for four decades.
During that time, the family never encountered a soldier or heard a single aeroplane, bullet, or shell. Far away from any front, deep in the Siberian taiga, just a few miles from Mongolia’s Northern border, this Russian family lived in a wooden hut by the Abakan River. Hidden, 150 miles away from the nearest known settlement, these Russian hillbillies survived in their own microcosmos without any news from the world, and no more technology than a few tools.
The Lykovs were Old Believers — a Russian Orthodox sect persecuted by the Tsars and the Soviets alike — who escaped their hometown in 1936, after a Red Army patrol shot Karp Lykov’s brother. Along with his wife Akulina and two children, 9-year-old Savin and 2-year-old Natalia, Karp fled to the mountains with just a few tools and seeds. The couple had two more children a few years later, in the 40s: Dmitry and Agafia.
Imagine growing up in the wild with absolutely no human contact except your family. Those kids grew up knowing nothing of the outside world but what they heard in the stories told by their parents. And their parents lived in complete ignorance of what was happening in the world at the time — until a group of Soviet scientists led by Galina Pismenskaya discovered them in 1978. These are her first impressions:
“Beside a stream there was a dwelling. Blackened by time and rain, the hut was piled up on all sides with taiga rubbish-bark, poles, planks. If it hadn’t been for a window the size of my backpack pocket, it would have been hard to believe that people lived there. But they did, no doubt about it…. Our arrival had been noticed, as we could see.”
“The low door creaked, and the figure of a very old man emerged into the light of day, straight out of a fairy tale. Barefoot. Wearing a patched and repatched shirt made of sacking. He wore trousers of the same material, also in patches, and had an uncombed beard. His hair was disheveled. He looked frightened and was very attentive…. We had to say something, so I began: ‘Greetings, grandfather! We’ve come to visit!’”
“The old man did not reply immediately…. Finally, we heard a soft, uncertain voice: ‘Well, since you have traveled this far, you might as well come in.”
[...]
“The silence was suddenly broken by sobs and lamentations. Only then did we see the silhouettes of two women. One was in hysterics, praying: ‘This is for our sins, our sins.’ The other, keeping behind a post… sank slowly to the floor. The light from the little window fell on her wide, terrified eyes, and we realized we had to get out of there as quickly as possible.”
It’s hard to imagine this happening now, in a world where even tribes lost in the Amazon rainforest have had contact with the world, and satellite TV is available in the farthest and poorest corners of Africa.
The entire story is amazing, go read it all at [Smithsonian Magazine]
Mad hey?
These people probably thought the scientists were there to execute them. Must have been horrifying.
I can’t imagine the terror they must have felt.
The geologists are lucky they weren’t killed. Imagine the son, Dimitry (who was able to live for days in sub zero temperatures barefoot) being told for 40 years that one day people might come to kill him, and discovering these people at his house.
It’s amazing the outcome wasn’t different. The geologists were armed, so it could easily have ended differently.
A Super Saiyan Russian coming out of the woods armed with primitive weapons? Fuck. That’s the stuff of nightmare. I would rather take my chances against an adult grizzly.
I remember someone saying there were some mountain ranges in Australia that werent discovered until the 90′s!
1890`s? ;p
Really?
I might have been a little tipsy at the time
A few parts of the world are still unknown.
“their parents lived in complete ignorance of what was happening in the world”
Sounds like parts of the modern USA – YouTube videos of Americans struggling to point to Iraq on a map!
The majority of Britain is sadly also exactly the same :/
Don’t be silly!
It’s off the coast of Scotland isn’t it?
prey tell, what is so important about being able to point out a specific country on a map?
Ask British people where the Netherlands (my home country) is.
I’ve gotten these genuine answers:
“Next to Poland”,
“Under France”,
“Amsterdam’s a country right?”
I’d say a solid 50-60% of English people will vehemently believe that the country on the other side of the North Sea across the entire British landmass is France.
A very low emphasis is placed on topography and geography in primary education in this country (for the most part, I am generalising based on my own experience, which, although extensive, isn’t exhaustive) and because of that half the country wouldn’t know Europe if it smacked them in the face, let alone other continents.
i am sure a huge majority of people do have problems pointing out specific countries on a map of the world, i agree with you on that.
however, my question is: why do you think this is a particularly important skill to possess?
Overall knowledge, context for news stories, for once getting off this island etc.
It is not a particularly “useful” skill I’ll give you that. But worldly ignorance is not something held in high regard.
Why is it important? I’m tempted to say “it just is” but of course that won’t be satisfactory. If you don’t have family who travels farther than Guernsey then I suppose there’s no problem at all, despite the aforementioned global ignorance. But what if you have family or friends on holiday in Malaysia and hear of tsunami’s striking Singapore? Should you be worried? If I go for a business trip to Abu Dhabi, and there’s bombings in Baghdad I’d sure like my family to know that I’m about as far away from the hot zone as they are, despite the very ‘Arabic’ names of the cities.
My ramblings could go on and on, so I’ll file it with the study of naming trees, or birds: It’s just something that everyone should have a basic understanding of in order not to be viewed as ignorant; if you can’t tell a sparrow from a robin, I personally wouldn’t hire you into my company.
Tsunamis* of course, blast you autocorrect.
i don’t really think you have a good reason. i am sure there are plenty of people who have good knowledge of the middle eastern conflict say (it’s always in the news), and haven’t got the foggiest of where Kuwait, Qatar, or Oman are on a map. Does it show ignorance, no. It doesn’t even show that they’re not intelligent.
so, what kind of company do you hire for?
As I said, it’s good to at least have an overall perspective of locations so that you’re not left scratching your head at just where everything is and where everything came from. Would I chastise one for mistaking Yemen for Oman, no. But knowing they’re closer to Africa than Afghanistan would probably be a start.
One of the quickest things people always associate with American ignorance is the lack of geographical knowledge. I was merely pointing out that this is also prevalent in British society, and considering Britain is in Europe, rather than being nearly the size of an entire continent itself, I would much less be inclined to pardon British citizens for not knowing which country is 300 miles to the east than Americans for countries 3000 miles in the same direction.
Sundry knowledge is important, not in determining intelligence, but in determining the well-rounded knowledge of a person in my opinion. You are welcome to disagree with me of course. Sadly, I do not hire for a company and it was just hypothetical. I have always been taught that a basic knowledge of all disciplines is essential so that you can at least follow 90% of conversations with a decent comprehension of the subject matter. Plant reproduction, Newton’s third law, tectonic plates, the Renaissance, trigonometry, all subject areas that many of us are unlikely to EVER need in our daily lives but we are all still taught them in school so to make our knowledge more widespread.
i just think you’re just being a bit harsh. ok, so if some american thinks England is a place in London it might indicate that they’re not the most erudite of people, but i wouldn’t say that they are ignorant. how many people know that alaska is state of the USA? How many countries can you name which lie in North America?
You mistake my use of the word ignorance as the derogatory term that has come with its misuse, much like ‘retard’ or other insulting terms. Ignorance merely denotes a lack of knowledge, especially basic knowledge. My point is that overall ignorance can be eradicated with a more well-rounded education. Most poignantly from my own experience the British system lacks geographical education and non-English history, whereas maths and literature are covered quite well. Other nations tend to have a different distribution of knowledge.
Ignorance is usually not solely an individual’s fault, but a flaw in the system that ranks the importance of different disciplines. This can be seen especially in politics. Many people vote simply what the daily mail or the sun tells them to vote, simply because the social situation around them doesn’t impose the need to educate themselves on political matters, foreign policies etc. I do not perceive ignorance as an insult, but do believe it is something that every nation should seek to eradicate; I’m equating it with global hunger for example. You don’t insult someone by calling them hungry, but it is a massive problem, one that they themselves, and everyone around them should try to eliminate.
I imagine a lot of people in places like North Korea don’t know much about historic world events, yet are highly informed about local unicorn lairs.
Japanese ex-soldiers were being discovered, still hating Americans, right into the 90s.