Gulistan Khatipova was born in 1934 in Uskut. The war took her father, and the deportation deprived her of her home and happy childhood in her homeland. In exile in Uzbekistan, her grandmother died in the first years from hardships and deprivation. Only through relentless effort did Gulistan-khanym manage to survive in a foreign land and, despite all difficulties, return to Crimea.