And the dawns here are quiet (story). The Dawns Here Are Quiet (story) Brief description of the story The Dawns Here Are Quiet

“And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” is a work by Boris Vasiliev dedicated to the Great Patriotic War and the role of women in it. Even the brief content of “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” makes it possible to convey all the tragedy of the situation described in full version works. The action takes place in May 1942 at one of the railway sidings. Thirty-two-year-old Fedot Evgrafych Vaskov commands the anti-aircraft gunners here.

In general, there is a calm atmosphere at the crossing, which is sometimes disturbed by airplanes. All soldiers arriving at such an important post are first looked around, and then begin to lead a riotous lifestyle. Vaskov wrote reports on careless soldiers quite often, and the command decided to assign him a platoon of female anti-aircraft gunners. At first, Fedot and the anti-aircraft gunners find themselves in awkward situations; this is shown in more detail in the full version of “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet”; the summary of the story does not provide such detailed details.

One of the platoon commanders is Margarita Osyanina, who became a widow on the second day of the war. She is driven by an uncontrollable thirst for revenge and hatred of all Germans, which is why she behaves quite strictly towards girls. After one of the fascist raids, the carrier dies, and Zhenya Komelkova arrives in her place, having her own motives for revenge: the fascists shot her entire family before her eyes.

As soon as Zhenya was at the front, she was caught having an affair with the married Colonel Luzhin, which is how she ended up on the 171st patrol. The wife manages to get along with the cold Rita, and she begins to soften. Komelkova also managed to transform Galya Chetvertak, who was an ordinary gray mouse in the company, and she decided to stick with her. Summary“And the dawns here are quiet,” unfortunately, does not provide an opportunity to colorfully describe the details of Chetvertak’s transformation.

Not far from the junction there is a town where Rita’s son and her mother live. At night, Osyanina delivered food to them, and one day, while moving through the forest, she noticed the Germans. Soon the command demanded that Vaskov and his platoon catch the Nazis. Fedot believes that the enemies are moving towards railway to disable it. To intercept a couple of Germans, Vaskov takes with him Osyanina, Komelkova, Chetvertak, as well as Elizaveta Brichkina, the daughter of a forester, and Sofya Gurvich, a girl from an intelligent family.

No one from the detachment even imagined that there would be not two Germans, but sixteen. Fedot sends Lisa for help, but she stumbles on a swamp path and dies. At the same time, the remaining members of the detachment are trying to deceive the invaders by posing as lumberjacks, and this maneuver is partly successful. The summary of “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet,” unfortunately, is not able to demonstrate the complex path shown in the book and its film adaptation.

Vaskov leaves his pouch at the old location, and Gurvich decides to return it. Indiscretion costs her life - she is killed by two Germans. Zhenya and Fedot take revenge for Sonya, after which they bury her. Seeing the Germans, the survivors open fire on them, and they hide, trying to figure out who attacked them.

Fedot ambushes the Germans, but all plans are foiled by Galya, whose nerves could not stand it. She ran out of cover right under the Nazis' bullets. The girl dies, and Fedot takes the Nazis as far as possible from Rita and Zhenya; during the maneuver, he finds Brichkina’s skirt and realizes that there will be no help. The tragedy of this situation cannot be felt using only a summary of “The Dawns Here Are Quiet.”

Fedot, Rita and Zhenya take the last stand. Rita receives a mortal wound in the stomach, and while Fedot drags her to cover, Zhenya, distracting the Germans, dies. Osyanina asks Vaskov to take care of her son and kills herself with a shot to the temple. Fedot buries both.

Vaskov finds the Germans’ hiding place, breaks into their house and captures them, after which he leads them to the platoon’s location. The book ends with the fact that every year Fedot Vaskov and Captain Albert Fedotich, the son of Margarita Osyanina, arrive at the place of death of the girls. The story created by Boris Vasiliev, “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet,” is part of a series of works dedicated to the fate of women during the Great Patriotic War.

One of the most touching, heartfelt and tragic works about the Great Patriotic War. There are no historical facts, grandiose battles or greatest personalities, this is a simple and at the same time very bitter story. The story of five brave girls, defenders of their homeland, who were not spared by the ruthless war. B.L. Vasiliev in his story reflects the strength and patriotism of the Russian people, and in particular the young women who challenged fate and twelve German soldiers. The young girls were unable to fully withstand the brutal blows of the war, and they died in the swampy Karelian forests.

The story of B.L. Vasilyeva shows us the mercilessness of war, which stops at nothing, even weak women. A woman should not force herself to go against cruelty, violence, injustice, vanity, she should not allow herself to kill, her destiny is a happy and peaceful life under the bright sun.

Read the summary And the dawns here are quiet... Vasilyeva

May 1942. Fedot Evgrafych Vaskov, the commandant of the railway crossing, demands that the management send him responsible soldiers to guard the territory. And then a surprise awaits Fedot Evgrafych; they send him a female anti-aircraft platoon. The commander of the women's army is Rita Osyanina, a widow who lost her husband in the war, this loss made her firm and merciless. Rita has a son, Albert, who lives with his parents, not far from the village where she was sent (at her own request) under the command of Vaskov.

Soon, a new girl, Zhenya Komelkova, a very beautiful, kind and cheerful girl, joins the squad of female fighters. Rita and Zhenya feel like family and trust each other with their most intimate things. Before Zhenya’s eyes, all her relatives were shot - her mother, little brother and sister. After their death, she went to the front, where she had an affair with Colonel Luzhin. The authorities found out about the colonel’s connection with Komelkova and she was forced to leave for a girl’s detachment of anti-aircraft gunners.

Ovsyanina Rita often secretly goes out into the town to tell her son and mother. After another hike, returning to the crossing, Rita meets nearby German soldiers. Vaskov, having learned the news from Rita, receives an order from the leadership to stop the German soldiers. Having learned that the enemies are on their way to the Kirov Railway, Fedot Evgrafych decides to go on combat reconnaissance and is joined by five volunteers - Rita, Zhenya, Lisa, Galya and Sonya. This is the most epic and fateful moment with the words of Fedot “In the evening the air here is thick, and the dawns here are quiet...”.

The girls, together with commander Vaskov, go on reconnaissance.

Next comes the acquaintance with Sonya Gurvich. Sonya grew up in a large family. During the war I did not hear anything about my family. I studied at the institute German. We also know that Sonya has her first love, a young man who also went to the front.

The next hero of the story, Galya Chetvertak, grew up in an orphanage. Until the war began, I studied at a library technical school and managed to complete three courses.

Before the girls and the leader of the squad lies a easy way through the swamp. Everyone successfully overcomes the obstacle. Now all that remains is to reach the lake and wait for the damned enemies, who should be there by morning.

And during this time the author will talk about Lisa Brichkina. This is a girl - a forester who did not go to school because she was caring for her sick mother. One day she falls in love with a hunter who stayed at their house. Lisa shows sympathy for Fedot. Death overtakes the girl, not from the enemy; hurrying back to the patrol to call for reinforcements, she drowns in the swamp.

Voskov and the girls are sitting in ambush, but seeing the Germans, they decide to change their location, at this moment Voskov forgets his pouch, Sonya returns for him, and finds her death. The girl is buried. The team manages to scare the opponents and gain some time. Galya and Fedot go on reconnaissance, Galya is very afraid of everything that is happening. Unable to bear it and scream, she gives herself away and is killed.

The brave commander leads the enemies away from Rita and Zhenya, they understand that there is no one to expect help from, Lisa has died. The last battle has come. The three fighters managed to defeat several German soldiers. Rita was mortally wounded, Zhenya died. Fedot makes a promise to Rita to take care of her son. Voskov buries the girls.

Voskov finds the remaining enemies, kills one, then takes the rest prisoner by cunning, he sees his own and loses consciousness. Fedot Evgrafych takes care of the orphan Albert.

Boris Vasiliev revealed to us the fates of women who had a wonderful future ahead of them, but the war took everything from them.

Picture or drawing And the dawns here are quiet...

Meaning of the name

The title of the story conveys the effect of surprise that befell the heroes. This junction, where the action took place, was a truly quiet and calm place. If in the distance the occupiers were bombing the Kirov Road, then “here” harmony reigned. Those men who were sent to guard him were drinking themselves to death, because there was nothing to do there: no battles, no Nazis, no missions. Like in the rear. That is why the girls were sent there, as if knowing that nothing would happen to them, the area was safe. However, the reader sees that the enemy was only letting his guard down while planning an attack. After tragic events described by the author, one can only bitterly complain about the failed justification for this terrible accident: “And the dawns here are quiet.” The silence in the title also conveys the emotion of mourning - a minute of silence. Nature itself mourns, seeing such an outrage against man.

In addition, the title illustrates the peace on earth that the girls sought by giving their young lives. They achieved their goal, but at what cost? Their efforts, their struggle, their cry with the help of the conjunction “a” is contrasted with this blood-washed silence.

Genre and direction

The genre of the book is a story. It is very small in volume and can be read in one sitting. The author deliberately removed from the military everyday life, which was well known to him, all those everyday details that slow down the dynamics of the text. He wanted to leave only emotionally charged fragments that evoke a genuine reaction from the reader to what he read.

Direction: realistic military prose. B. Vasiliev tells the story of the war, using real life material to create the plot.

The essence

The main character, Fedot Evgrafych Vaskov, is the foreman of the 171st railway district. It is calm here, and soldiers arriving in this area often start drinking from idleness. The hero writes reports on them, and eventually they send him anti-aircraft gunner girls.

At first, Vaskov does not understand how to deal with young girls, but when it comes to military operations, they all become a single team. One of them notices two Germans, main character understands that these are saboteurs who are going to go secretly through the forest to important strategic objects.

Fedot quickly assembles a group of five girls. They follow a local trail to get ahead of the Germans. However, it turns out that instead of two people there are sixteen fighters in the enemy squad. Vaskov knows that they cannot cope, and he sends one of the girls for help. Unfortunately, Lisa dies, drowning in a swamp and not having time to convey the message.

At this time, trying to deceive the Germans by cunning, the detachment tries to take them as far as possible. They pretend to be lumberjacks, shoot from behind boulders, and find a German resting place. But the forces are not equal, and during the unequal battle the rest of the girls die.

The hero still manages to capture the remaining soldiers. Many years later, he returns here to bring a marble slab to the grave. In the epilogue, the young people, seeing the old man, understand that it turns out there were battles here too. The story ends with a phrase from one of the young guys: “And the dawns here are quiet, quiet, I only saw them today.”

The main characters and their characteristics

Fedot Vaskov- the only survivor of the team. Subsequently he lost his arm due to injury. Brave, responsible and reliable person. He considers drunkenness in war unacceptable and zealously defends the need for discipline. Despite the difficult nature of the girls, he cares about them and is very worried when he realizes that he did not save the fighters. At the end of the work, the reader sees him with his adopted son. Which means that Fedot kept his promise to Rita - he took care of her son, who became an orphan.

Images of girls:

Elizaveta Brichkina- a hardworking girl. She was born into a simple family. Her mother is sick and her father works as a forester. Before the war, Lisa was going to move from the village to the city and study at a technical school. She dies while carrying out the order: she drowns in the swamp, trying to lead soldiers to help her team. Dying in a quagmire, she does not believe until the last that death will not allow her to realize her ambitious dreams.
Sofia Gurvich- ordinary soldier. Former student of Moscow University, excellent student. She studied German and could be a good translator; she was predicted to have a great future. Sonya grew up among a friendly Jewish family. He dies trying to return a forgotten pouch to the commander. She accidentally meets the Germans, who stab her to death with two blows to the chest. Although she did not succeed in everything during the war, she persistently and patiently fulfilled her duties and accepted death with dignity.
Galina Chetvertak- the youngest of the group. She is an orphan, grew up in orphanage. He goes to war for the sake of “romance”, but quickly realizes that this is not a place for the weak. Vaskov takes her with him for educational purposes, but Galya cannot withstand the pressure. She panics and tries to run away from the Germans, but they kill the girl. Despite the heroine's cowardice, the foreman tells the others that she died in a shootout.
Evgenia Komelkova- a young beautiful girl, the daughter of an officer. The Germans capture her village, she manages to hide, but her entire family is shot before her eyes. During the war he shows courage and heroism, Zhenya overshadows his colleagues. First she is wounded, and then shot at point-blank range, because she led the detachment towards herself, wanting to save the rest.
Margarita Osyanina- junior sergeant and commander of a squad of anti-aircraft gunners. Serious and sensible, she was married and has a son. However, her husband dies in the first days of the war, after which Rita began to hate the Germans quietly and mercilessly. During the battle, she is mortally wounded and shoots herself in the temple. But before his death he asks Vaskov to take care of his son.

Themes

Heroism, sense of duty. Yesterday's schoolgirls, still very young girls, go to war. But they do this not out of necessity. Each comes of her own free will and, as history has shown, each invested all her strength to resist the Nazi invaders.
Woman at war. First of all, in the work of B. Vasiliev, the fact that the girls are not in the rear is important. They, along with men, fight for the honor of their homeland. Each of them is a person, each had plans for life, her own family. But cruel fate takes it all away. The protagonist says that war is terrible because, by taking the lives of women, it destroys the life of an entire people.
Feat little man . None of the girls were professional fighters. These were ordinary Soviet people with different characters and destinies. But the war unites the heroines, and they are ready to fight together. The contribution of each of them to the struggle was not in vain.
Courage and boldness. Some heroines especially stood out from the rest, showing phenomenal courage. For example, Zhenya Komelkova saved her comrades at the cost of her life, turning the persecution of enemies on herself. She was not afraid to take risks, as she was confident of victory. Even after being wounded, the girl was only surprised that this happened to her.
Homeland. Vaskov blamed himself for what happened to his charges. He imagined that their sons would rise up and reproach the men who could not protect the women. He did not believe that some White Sea Canal was worth these sacrifices, because it was already guarded by hundreds of soldiers. But in a conversation with the foreman, Rita stopped his self-flagellation, saying that his patronymic name was not the canals and roads that they protected from saboteurs. This is all Russian land that required protection here and now. This is how the author represents his homeland.

Problems

The issues of the story cover typical problems from military prose: cruelty and humanity, courage and cowardice, historical memory and oblivion. She also conveys a specific innovative problem - the fate of women in war. Let's look at the most striking aspects using examples.

The problem of war. The struggle does not decide who to kill and who to leave alive; it is blind and indifferent, like a destructive element. Therefore, weak and innocent women die by chance, and the only man survives, also by accident. They are facing an unequal battle, and it is quite natural that no one had time to help them. These are the conditions of wartime: everywhere, even in the quietest place, it is dangerous, destinies are breaking everywhere.
Memory problem. In the finale, the foreman comes to the scene of a terrible massacre of the heroine’s son and meets young people who are surprised that fighting took place in this wilderness. Thus, the surviving man perpetuates the memory of the dead women by installing a memorial plaque. Now descendants will remember their feat.
The problem of cowardice. Galya Chetvertak was unable to cultivate the necessary courage, and with her unreasonable behavior she complicated the operation. The author does not blame her strictly: the girl was already brought up in difficult conditions, she had no one to learn how to behave with dignity. Her parents abandoned her, afraid of responsibility, and Galya herself was afraid at the decisive moment. Using her example, Vasiliev shows that war is not a place for romantics, because the struggle is always not beautiful, it is monstrous, and not everyone can withstand its oppression.

Meaning

The author wanted to show how Russian women, who have long been famous for their willpower, fought against the occupation. It is not for nothing that he talks about each biography separately, because they show what trials the fair sex faced in the rear and on the front line. There was no mercy for anyone, and in these conditions the girls took the enemy’s blow. Each of them made the sacrifice voluntarily. In this desperate tension of the will of all the people's forces lies the main idea of Boris Vasiliev. Future and present mothers sacrificed their natural duty - to give birth and raise future generations - in order to save the whole world from the tyranny of Nazism.

Of course, the main idea of the writer is a humanistic message: women have no place in war. Their lives are trampled by heavy soldiers' boots, as if they come across not people, but flowers on their way. But if the enemy has encroached on his native land, if he mercilessly destroys everything that is dear to his heart, then even a girl is able to challenge him and win in an unequal struggle.

Conclusion

Each reader, of course, draws the moral conclusions of the story independently. But many of those who have thoughtfully read the book will agree that it talks about the need to preserve historical memory. We need to remember the unimaginable sacrifices that our ancestors voluntarily and consciously made in the name of peace on Earth. They went into a bloody battle to exterminate not only the occupiers, but also the very idea of Nazism, a false and unjust theory that made possible many unprecedented crimes against human rights and freedoms. This memory is needed so that the Russian people and their equally brave neighbors understand their place in the world and its modern history.

All countries, all peoples, women and men, old people and children were able to unite for a common goal: the return of a peaceful sky above their heads. This means that today we “can repeat” this unification with the same great message of goodness and justice.

And the dawns here are quiet. A story that brought its author, Boris Lvovich Vasiliev, real fame. Written in 1969, it was almost immediately published in the magazine Yunost. A year later the work was transferred to the theater stage. In 1970, the story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet...” was filmed. In this story, the author unfolds before the reader a story about a military operation that began in one of the Russian forests. Having gone to work, the soldiers, led by the sergeant major, discover that the Germans outnumber them.

The squad is left without reinforcements, they are doomed to death: someone succumbs to fear, someone bravely defends motherland. But the fact is that all the fighters, except the sergeant major, are women. Losing each of his “soldiers”, one after another, the main character of the story, the foreman, thinks with bitterness about the unnaturalness of what is happening. Women who die at the hands of the enemy should be in a completely different place, in the family, giving birth and raising children. This thought, which is repeated as a reprise in the work and is, main idea author.

Boris Vasiliev raises themes of cowardice, heroism, duty, but also asks the problem of “woman and war.” And this problem leads the reader to an even greater problem, because the woman in this work is synonymous with life, the continuer of the family.

“And the dawns here are quiet...” summary

Replenishment

It was hot May 1942. At the 171st railway siding, the chief officer was Fedot Vaskov. Vaskov is 32 years old, he is lonely, since his wife ran away with her lover and his little son died. The soldiers were constantly changing because the place was calm, the soldiers drank moonshine and walked with local women. Fedot Evgrafych demands that people who don’t drink and “don’t party” be sent to him - in response, the authorities send a detachment of young anti-aircraft gunners.

Sergeant Major Vaskov does not know how to behave with young women; they respond to any remark with a giggle, “on all fronts” they dry their clothes, or even lie down to sunbathe in what their mother gave birth to. The main one in the first section of the platoon is Margarita Osyanina. She was the first to get married in her class, and remained a widow on the second day of the war. Rita left behind a small son, Albert, whom she sent to his parents in the village two months before the war.

The death of her husband made her somehow special among the other girls; she remained the sternest among them. When Zhenya Komelkova appears among the girls, Rita’s peculiarity disappears. A year before Zhenya came here, the Germans shot her entire family. She saw it with her own eyes, from the house opposite, where her Estonian neighbor hid her. Despite the great loss, Zhenya laughs and smiles, she is very beautiful, slender, with long hair. Zhenya and Rita become friends.

The squad is moving forward

After some time, it becomes clear that it was not in vain that Rita asked to transfer her platoon here. Every three days, Osyanina runs away without permission somewhere after dinner and returns at dawn. On one of these trips, in the morning, Rita sees two Germans going into the forest. She wakes up Vaskov, he informs his superiors and decides to move forward to track down the enemy: kill one of the Germans, take one prisoner for questioning. He takes with him: Zhenya, Rita, Lisa Brichkina, Sonya Gurvich and Galya Chetvertak.

The squad moves out and follows a short path. Vaskov correctly guesses that the Germans will take the long path, and he himself leads the girls along the short road, through the swamp, to Lake Vop. Positioned in ambush, the foreman and the girls finally wait for the Germans. But when the Germans come ashore, Fedot Vaskov must solve a big problem in his head: not two, but sixteen Germans came ashore.

We are waiting for reinforcements

Lisa Brichkina is sent back to the village to inform her superiors that reinforcements are urgently needed. Lisa, the daughter of a forester, runs, thinking about her past life, which was spent caring for her sick mother, and about her feelings for foreman Vaskov. She misses the right place, stumbles and dies in the swamp. At this time, the sergeant major and the rest of the girls do not yet know about this. They must play for time: pretending to be lumberjacks, they light fires and cut down trees.

When the fighters moved on, Vaskov discovers that he forgot his tobacco pouch. Cheerful Sonya decides to return for him, especially since they have already walked along this path twice. Unfortunately for her, Sonya meets the Germans who kill her. The foreman and Zhenya track down two Germans and avenge Sonya. Soon they fire at the enemy squad, but only wound one.

During the shelling, Galya Chetvertak, a former student at the library technical school who ended up at the front because of romantic ideas, succumbs to fear. She is horrified by Sonya's death, but Vaskov does not see this. He takes her with him, puts her in an ambush, and when the right moment comes to shoot the enemy, Galya gives herself away, the Germans kill her. The foreman leads the Germans with him to save the surviving Zhenya and Rita. Vaskov is wounded in the arm. He finds a hut, an enemy camp, and kills another German. On his way, near the swamp, he notices Brichkina’s skirt and realizes that the girl is stuck in the swamp and there will be no help.

Last Stand

The survivors Zhenya and Rita meet Fedot on the shore like sisters and brother. They hug, cry, the foreman tells the girls about Lisa’s death and that the last battle awaits them; they cannot let the enemy near the railway. The girls are ready for this. In an unequal battle, the Germans first wound Rita, and while Vaskov hides her, Zhenya dies. Rita understands that she will not survive and confesses to Vaskov where she ran at night: not far from the crossing, her mother lives in the city, with Rita’s little son. The woman asks Fedot to take care of the baby. Not wanting to die in agony, Rita shoots herself in the temple.

Vaskov, left alone, first buries Rita and Zhenya. And then he goes to the hut, the German camp. He kills one German and the other four surrender. The enemy simply could not imagine that the foreman was alone. And the foreman himself, tying up the last German, bitterly promised to kill everyone for the five girls they had killed. The story ends with a life-affirming epilogue. Many years pass. Old Fedot Evgrafych and Albert Fedotych bring a marble slab to Rita’s grave.

The action took place in May 1942 in the Russian outback. Positional battles took place at the 171st railway siding. After the German bombing, trains stopped stopping there; only 12 households survived. In all parts of the country there was Patriotic War. Compared to other sidings, 171 was a “resort.” Foreman Fedot Evgrafych Vaskov was appointed commander of the patrol. Despite the fact that he only had a 4th grade education, he was an experienced commander. His wife left him and went to the regimental veterinarian, and his son soon died. Soldiers arriving on patrol eventually relaxed and began to “drink and party.” The commander did not like this, and he kept writing reports asking him to send him “non-drinking” soldiers.

In the end, they sent him female anti-aircraft gunners. At first, Vaskov didn’t even know how to command them, and they laughed at him. The platoon leader was Rita Osyanina. Her husband was killed by the Germans during the war, and her son Albert lived with her mother. Rita herself studied at the regimental anti-aircraft school and dreamed of avenging her husband. She hated the Germans with all her heart. She treated the girls in her department strictly and generally kept herself apart. Soon a new girl was sent to the department - the slender beauty Zhenya Komelkova.

The fate of this red-haired girl immediately crossed out the “exclusivity” of Rita, who, after communicating with Zhenya, thawed a little and became softer. Zhenya's relatives were shot a year ago in front of her eyes. After that, she went to the front, where she was courted by the married Colonel Luzhin. When this reached the authorities, they took the colonel seriously, and Zhenya was sent to another, more suitable detachment. By nature she was sociable and cheerful. Even the stern Rita smiled and sang songs with her. The squad immediately fell in love with her.

Soon they started talking about transferring the detachment to a patrol. Rita asked to send her squad, since her mother and son lived not far from the crossing. She wanted to visit them at least sometimes and bring them food. One day, returning from them at dawn, she noticed two Germans in the forest. She reported this to Vaskov, and he ordered to assemble a detachment and head to the railway. It was decided to take a shortcut, which lay through the swamps. He took with him Rita, Zhenya and three more girls - Sonya Gurvich, Galya Chetvertak and Lisa Brichkina. The fate of these girls could not be called easy.

Lisa was the daughter of a forester from the Bryansk region. All her life she cared for her sick mother, because of which she could not even finish school. One day a hunter visited them and promised to help Lisa with admission to a technical school and a place in a dormitory. But Lisa never had time to go to school, because the war began and she ended up in an anti-aircraft unit. She likes Sergeant Major Vaskov for his taciturnity and “masculine thoroughness.”

Sonya Gurvich was from a large and friendly family. She was from Minsk, but studied for one year at Moscow University. There she met her first love, but he volunteered for the front. Sonya knew German well and wanted to become a translator. But there were enough translators, so she was hired as an anti-aircraft gunner. Her family remained in Minsk, but most likely none of them survived. Galya Chetvertak was from an orphanage. I studied at a library technical school, and in my third year the war began.

Vaskov himself was 32 years old, but felt much older, since he became the breadwinner of the family at the age of fourteen. When he was 20, he joined the army and since then has religiously respected the charter. I could explain everything in life with the help of the charter. As a sergeant major, he knew his place: older than the privates, equal to the majors and younger than any colonel. His wife was frivolous, walking around. When he divorced her, he sued his son and sent him to his mother. But the boy died before the war.

Before heading to the Sinyukhin ridge, Vaskov taught the girls how to properly wrap footcloths and how to give conditioned signals. The detachment crossed the swamp and safely reached the lake. Hiding there, they began to wait for the Germans. In the morning they appeared, but there were not two of them, but sixteen. Until they reach Vaskov’s detachment, he sends Lisa, as the most capable, for help to his own. But on the way, Lisa stumbled and drowned in the swamp. Nobody knew about this and everyone was waiting for help.

Meanwhile, Vaskov decides to outwit the Germans in order to gain some time before reinforcements arrive. Portraying lumberjacks, the whole squad sings loudly, burns fires, and cuts down trees. The frightened Germans change the route and go to Lake Legontov, and the detachment changes its location. Vaskov left his pouch in the same place, which Sonya went to get. However, on the way she came across two Germans and died. Vaskov and Zhenka caught up with these Germans and killed them.

Soon the surviving fighters stumble upon the rest of the Germans and a counter battle ensues. The detachment, shielded by bushes and boulders, attacks first and the Germans retreat. Galya is afraid to move on, since Sonya's death left an indelible mark on her soul. The girls accuse her of cowardice, but the foreman takes her with him on reconnaissance to raise her spirits. He believes that this is not cowardice, but simple confusion. Frightened Galya, on Vaskov's orders, hides in the bushes, but at the most crucial moment she gives herself away and rushes straight at the machine gunners. She is killed.

The sergeant major decides to save the other girls at all costs and with difficulty escapes from the German bullets. Through a forest shrouded in fog, he reaches a swamp, in which he notices Lisa’s skirt and realizes that she has drowned. Now there was nowhere to wait for help. Having stumbled upon two German sentries, he kills one of them and moves on in search of Rita and Zhenya. They face a final battle, which is not an easy one. During the unequal struggle, several Germans were killed and Rita was mortally wounded by a grenade fragment. While Vaskov drags her to a safe place, Zhenya fires back and takes the Germans in the other direction. She is killed.

Rita, realizing that her wound is fatal, does not want to suffer from pain and asks Vaskov for a pistol and shoots herself in the temple. Before her death, she asks to take care of her son. Having buried the girls, he heads to the German camp. He kills one of them and takes the rest prisoner. The foreman, wounded in the arm, with the last of his strength, leads the prisoners to his own, and loses consciousness when he sees the Red Army soldiers running towards him. As Rita requested, he takes responsibility for her son Albert and adopts him. Many years later, the two of them came to the place where the entire squad had died and erected a monument to the brave girls.