Azori here is quiet summary. And the dawns here are quiet (story)

“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 summary“And the dawns here are quiet” allows us 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. The summary of “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet,” unfortunately, does not make it possible to colorfully describe the details of the transformation of Chetvertak.

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 the 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.

The story “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet,” written by Boris Lvovich Vasiliev (life: 1924-2013), first appeared in 1969. The work, according to the author himself, is based on a real military episode when, after being wounded, seven soldiers serving on the railway prevented a German sabotage group from blowing it up. After the battle, only one sergeant, the commander of the Soviet fighters, managed to survive. In this article we will analyze “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” and describe the brief content of this story.

War is tears and grief, destruction and horror, madness and the extermination of all living things. She brought misfortune to everyone, knocking on every house: wives lost their husbands, mothers lost their sons, children were forced to be left without fathers. Many people went through it, experienced all these horrors, but they managed to survive and win the hardest war ever endured by humanity. Let's start the analysis of "And the Dawns Here Are Quiet" with brief description events, commenting on them along the way.

Boris Vasiliev served as a young lieutenant at the beginning of the war. In 1941, he went to the front while still a schoolboy, and two years later was forced to leave the army due to severe shell shock. Thus, this writer knew the war firsthand. Therefore it best works- precisely about her, about the fact that a person manages to remain human only by fulfilling his duty to the end.

In the work “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet,” the content of which is war, it is felt especially acutely, since it is turned on an unusual side for us. We are all used to associating men with her, but here the main characters are girls and women. They stood up against the enemy alone in the middle of Russian land: lakes, swamps. The enemy is hardy, strong, merciless, well armed, and many times outnumbers them.

The events take place in May 1942. A railway siding and its commander are depicted - Fyodor Evgrafych Vaskov, a 32-year-old man. The soldiers arrive here, but then start partying and drinking. Therefore, Vaskov writes reports, and in the end they send him anti-aircraft gunner girls under the command of Rita Osyanina, a widow (her husband died at the front). Then Zhenya Komelkova arrives, replacing the carrier killed by the Germans. All five girls had their own character.

Five different characters: analysis

“And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” is a work that describes interesting female characters. Sonya, Galya, Lisa, Zhenya, Rita - five different, but in some ways very similar girls. Rita Osyanina is gentle and strong-willed, distinguished by spiritual beauty. She is the most fearless, courageous, she is a mother. Zhenya Komelkova is white-skinned, red-haired, tall, with childish eyes, always laughing, cheerful, mischievous to the point of adventurism, tired of pain, war and painful and long love for a married and distant man. Sonya Gurvich is an excellent student, a refined poetic nature, as if she came out of a book of poems by Alexander Blok. She always knew how to wait, she knew that she was destined for life, and it was impossible to avoid it. The latter, Galya, always lived more actively in the imaginary world than in the real one, so she was very afraid of this merciless terrible phenomenon that is war. “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” portrays this heroine as a funny, never-grown-up, clumsy orphanage girl. Escape from an orphanage, notes and dreams... about long dresses, solo parts and universal worship. She wanted to become the new Lyubov Orlova.

The analysis of “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” allows us to say that none of the girls were able to fulfill their desires, because they did not have time to live their lives.

Further developments

The heroes of “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” fought for their homeland like no one had ever fought before. They hated the enemy with all their souls. The girls always followed orders precisely, as young soldiers should. They experienced everything: losses, worries, tears. Right before the eyes of these fighters, their good friends died, but the girls held on. They fought to the death until the very end, did not let anyone through, and there were hundreds and thousands of such patriots. Thanks to them, it was possible to defend the freedom of the Motherland.

Death of Heroines

These girls had different deaths, just as they were different life paths, which the heroes of “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” followed. Rita was wounded by a grenade. She understood that she could not survive, that the wound was fatal, and she would have to die painfully and for a long time. Therefore, gathering the rest of her strength, she shot herself in the temple. Galya's death was as reckless and painful as she herself - the girl could have hidden and saved her life, but she did not. One can only guess what motivated her then. Perhaps just momentary confusion, perhaps cowardice. Sonya's death was cruel. She did not even manage to understand how the blade of the dagger pierced her cheerful young heart. Zhenya’s is a little reckless and desperate. She believed in herself until the very end, even when she was leading the Germans away from Osyanina, and did not doubt for a moment that everything would end well. Therefore, even after the first bullet hit her in the side, she was only surprised. After all, it was so implausible, absurd and stupid to die when you were only nineteen years old. Lisa's death happened unexpectedly. It was a very stupid surprise - the girl was pulled into the swamp. The author writes that until the last moment the heroine believed that “there will be tomorrow for her too.”

Sergeant Major Vaskov

Sergeant Major Vaskov, whom we have already mentioned in summary“And the dawns here are quiet,” in the end he remains alone in the midst of torment, misfortune, alone with death and three prisoners. But now he has five times more strength. What was human in this fighter, the best, but hidden deep in the soul, was suddenly revealed. He felt and worried both for himself and for his girls “sisters”. The foreman laments, he does not understand why this happened, because they need to give birth to children, not die.

So, according to the plot, all the girls died. What guided them when they went into battle, not sparing their own lives, defending their land? Perhaps just a duty to the Fatherland, to one’s people, perhaps patriotism? Everything was mixed up at that moment.

Sergeant Major Vaskov ultimately blames himself for everything, and not the fascists he hates. His words that he “put all five down” are perceived as a tragic requiem.

Conclusion

Reading the work “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet,” you involuntarily become an observer of the everyday life of anti-aircraft gunners at a bombed crossing in Karelia. This story is based on an episode that is insignificant in the enormous scale of the Great Patriotic War, but it is told in such a way that all its horrors appear before the eyes in all their ugly, terrible inconsistency with the essence of man. It is emphasized both by the fact that the work is titled “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” and by the fact that its heroes are girls forced to participate in the war.

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 the story of military operation, which started in one of the Russian forests. Having gone to work, the soldiers, led by the sergeant major, discover that the Germans outnumber them.

The detachment is left without reinforcements, they are doomed to death: someone succumbs to fear, someone bravely defends native land. But the fact is that all the fighters, except the sergeant major, are women. Losing each of his “soldiers”, one after another, main character 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 forester's daughter, runs, thinking about her past life, which was spent caring for her sick mother, and her feelings for Sergeant Major 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.

“And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” is a short story that, with piercing sincerity, tells about the fate of five young girls who died in the swampy Karelian forests. This book, written by Boris Vasiliev in 1969, tells so truthfully and touchingly about the military events of 1942 that in a relatively short period it twice managed to attract the attention of filmmakers. We will try to present a brief summary of “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” so that this work does not seem to the reader a dry statement of facts, but forces him to familiarize himself with the original.

Chapter one

There is a war going on. The action takes place in May 1942. Thirty-two-year-old Fedot Evgrafych Vaskov, with the rank of foreman, commands the 171st railway siding. Shortly before the Finnish War, he got married, but when he returned, he discovered that his wife had gone south with the regimental veterinarian. Vaskov divorced her, and returned their common son, Igor, through the court and gave it to his mother to raise. A year later the boy was gone.

Everything is calm in his part. The servicemen, having looked around, begin to drink. Vaskov writes reports to his superiors. They send him a platoon of girls who make fun of his timidity.

This is the main essence of the first chapter, its summary. “And the dawns here are quiet” Vasiliev dedicated to those girls who served and accomplished their feat for the good of the Motherland.

Chapter two

The commander of the first squad of the platoon was a strict girl, Rita Osyanina. Her beloved husband died at the very beginning of the war. Son Albert is now being raised by her parents. Having lost her husband, Rita fiercely hated the Germans and treated the girls of her squad harshly.

However, her stern character softened after the cheerful beauty Zhenya Komelkova entered her department. Even a brief summary of “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” cannot ignore her tragic fate. In front of this girl’s eyes, her mother, brother, and sister were shot. Zhenya went to the front after their death, where she met Colonel Luzhin, who protected her. He is a family man, and the military authorities, having learned about their affair, sent Zhenya to the girls’ group.

The three of them were friends: Rita, Zhenya and Galya Chetvertak - an unprepossessing plain girl, whom Zhenya helped to “bloom” by fitting her tunic and styling her hair.

Rita visits her mother and son at night, who live nearby in the city. Of course, no one knows about this.

Chapter Three

Returning to the unit from mother and son, Osyanina notices Germans in the forest. There were two of them. She informs Vaskov about this.

This episode in a key way defines the further summary of “And the dawns here are quiet.” Vasiliev arranges events in such a way that the fatal accident influences the subsequent narrative: if Rita had not run to the city to see her mother and son, the entire subsequent story would not have happened.

She reports what she saw to Vaskov. Fedot Efgrafych calculates the route of the Nazis - Kirovskaya railway. The foreman decides to go there a short way - through the swamps to the Sinyukhin ridge and there to wait for the Germans, who, as he hoped, would go along the ring road. Five girls go with him: Rita, Zhenya, Galya, Lisa Brichkina and Sonya Gurvich.

Fedot tells his charges: “In the evening the air here is damp and dense, and the dawns here are quiet...”. A summary can hardly convey the tragedy of this small work.

Chapters four, five

The girls, led by Vaskov, cross the swamp.

Sonya Gurvich is from Minsk. She comes from a large family, her dad is a local doctor. She doesn’t know what’s happening to her family now. The girl graduated from her first year at Moscow University and speaks German well. Her first love, a young man with whom she attended lectures, went to the front.

Galya Chetvertak is an orphan. After the orphanage, she entered the library technical school. When she was in her third year, the war began. While crossing the swamp, Galya loses her boot.

Chapter Six

All six safely crossed the swamp and, having reached the lake, wait for the Germans, who appear only in the morning. There are sixteen Germans, not two, as they expected.

Vaskov sends Lisa Brichkina on a patrol to report on the situation.

While waiting for help, Vaskov and four girls pretend to be lumberjacks in order to mislead the Germans. Gradually they move to a new place.

Chapter Seven

Lisa Brichkina's father is a forester. The girl was unable to finish school because she had been caring for her sick mother for five years. Her first love is a hunter who stopped overnight at their house. She likes Vaskov.

Returning to the siding, while crossing the swamp, Lisa drowns.

Chapters eight, nine, ten, eleven

Vaskov discovers that he forgot the pouch, Sonya Gurvich volunteers to bring it, but she is killed by two Germans. The girl is buried.

Soon Vaskov and the girls see the rest of the Germans approaching them. Hiding, they decide to shoot first, hoping that the Nazis will be afraid of the invisible enemy. The calculation turns out to be correct: the Germans are retreating.

There is a disagreement between the girls: Rita and Zhenya blame Galya for being a coward. Vaskov stands up for Galya, and they go on reconnaissance together. Sonya, screaming, gives herself away, the Germans kill her.

Fedot Evgrafych leads the enemies away from Zhenya and Rita. He understands that Lisa did not make it and there will be no help.

We have almost outlined the summary of “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet.” An analysis of this work, of course, cannot be carried out without knowing how it ended.

Chapters twelve, thirteen, fourteen

Vaskov returns to the girls, they are preparing for last fight, in which they manage to kill several Germans. Rita is mortally wounded. Vaskov is looking for a safe place for her. Zhenya is killed by the Germans. Rita turns to Vaskov with a request to take care of her son and shoots herself in the temple. Vaskov buries Rita and Zhenya and heads to the enemy’s location. Having killed one, he orders the remaining four to tie themselves up and takes them prisoner. Seeing his own people, Vaskov loses consciousness.

Fedot Evgrafych keeps his promise to Rita and raises her son.

This is the summary of “The Dawns Here Are Quiet.” Boris Vasiliev spoke chapter by chapter about the fates of many girls of that time. They dreamed of great love, tenderness, family warmth, but it fell to their lot brutal war... A war that did not spare a single family. The pain inflicted on people then lives in our hearts to this day.

The story “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet,” a brief summary of which is given later in the article, tells about the events taking place during the Great Patriotic War.

The work is dedicated to the heroic feat of anti-aircraft gunners who unexpectedly found themselves surrounded by Germans.

About the story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”

The story was first published in 1969, it was approved by the editor of the magazine “Youth”.

The reason for writing the work was a real wartime episode.

A small group of 7 soldiers recovering from wounds prevented the Germans from blowing up the Kirov Railway.

As a result of the operation, only one commander survived, who subsequently received the medal “For Military Merit” at the end of the war.

The episode is tragic, however, in the realities of wartime this event is lost among the horrors terrible war. Then the author remembered the 300 thousand women who bore the hardships of the front along with male soldiers.

And the plot of the story was based on tragic destinies female anti-aircraft gunners who die during a reconnaissance operation.

Who is the author of the book “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”

The work was written by Boris Vasiliev in the narrative genre.

When the Great Patriotic War began, he had barely finished 9th grade.

Boris Lvovich fought near Smolensk, received a shell shock, and therefore knew first-hand about front-line life.

He became interested in literary work in the 50s, writing plays and scripts. The writer took up prose stories only 10 years later.

The main characters of the story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”

Vaskov Fedot Evgrafych

The sergeant-major, whose command the anti-aircraft gunners were placed in, occupied the commandant’s position at the 171st railway siding.

He is 32 years old, but the girls gave him the nickname “old man” for his intractable character.

Before the war, he was an ordinary man from the village, had a 4th grade education, and at the age of 14 he was forced to become the sole breadwinner in the family.

Vaskov's son, whom he sued from ex-wife after the divorce, died before the start of the war.

Gurvich Sonya

A simple, shy girl from a large family, born and raised in Minsk. Her father worked as a local doctor.

Before the war, she managed to study for a year at Moscow State University as a translator and spoke German fluently. Sonya's first love was a bespectacled student studying in the library at the next table, with whom they timidly communicated.

When the war began, due to the excess of translators at the front, Sonya ended up in a school for anti-aircraft gunners, and then in Fedot Vaskov’s detachment.

The girl loved poetry very much, her cherished dream was to see her many household members again. During a reconnaissance operation, Sonya was killed by a German with two knife blows to the chest.

Brichkina Elizaveta

Country girl, daughter of a forester. From the age of 14 she was forced to leave school and take care of her terminally ill mother.

I dreamed of entering a technical school, so after my mother’s death, following the advice of one of my father’s friends, I was going to move to the capital. But her plans were not destined to come true; they were adjusted by the war - Lisa went to the front.

The gloomy Sergeant Vaskov immediately aroused great sympathy in the girl. During a reconnaissance mission, Lisa was sent through the swamp for help, but was in too much of a hurry and drowned. After some time, Vaskov will find her skirt in the swamp, then he will understand that he is left without help.

Komelkova Evgenia

Cheerful and beautiful red-haired girl. The Germans shot all members of her family; the merciless reprisal took place right before Zhenya’s eyes.

Her neighbor saved the girl from death. Burning with the desire to avenge the death of her relatives, Zhenya became an anti-aircraft gunner.

The girl’s attractive appearance and perky character made her the object of Colonel Luzhin’s advances, so the authorities, in order to interrupt the romance, redirected Zhenya to the women’s detachment, so she came under the command of Vaskov.

In reconnaissance, Zhenya twice showed fearlessness and heroism. She saved her commander when he was fighting a German. And then, exposing herself to bullets, she led the Germans away from the place where the foreman and her wounded friend Rita hid.

Chetvertak Galina

A very young and sensitive girl, she was short in stature and had a habit of making up stories and fables.

Grew up in orphanage and didn’t even have her own last name. Because of her small stature, the elderly caretaker, who treated Gala in a friendly manner, came up with her surname Chetvertak.

Before being called up, the girl almost managed to complete 3 years of library college. During a reconnaissance operation, Galya was unable to cope with fear and jumped out of cover, falling under German bullets.

Osyanina Margarita

The senior person in the platoon, Rita was distinguished by her seriousness, was very reserved and rarely smiled. As a girl, she bore the surname Mushtakov.

At the very beginning of the war, her husband, Lieutenant Osyanin, died. Wanting to avenge the death loved one, Rita went to the front.

She gave her only son, Albert, to be raised by her mother. Rita's death was the last of five girls in intelligence. She shot herself, realizing that she was mortally wounded and was an unbearable burden for her commander Vaskov.

Before her death, she asked the foreman to take care of Albert. And he kept his promise.

Other characters in “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”

Kiryanova

She was Rita's senior comrade in the industrial platoon. Before serving on the border, she participated in Finnish war. Kiryanova, along with Rita, Zhenya Komelkova and Galya Chetvertak, were redirected to the 171st crossing.

Knowing about Rita’s secret attacks on her son and mother during her service with Vaskov, she did not betray her long-time colleague, interceding for her that morning when the girl met the Germans in the forest.

A brief retelling of the story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”

The events of the story are greatly abbreviated. Dialogue and descriptive moments are omitted.

Chapter 1

The action took place in the rear. At the inactive railway siding at number 171, there are only a few surviving houses. There were no more bombings, but as a precaution, the command left anti-aircraft installations here.

Compared to other parts of the front, there was a resort at the junction, the soldiers abused alcohol and flirted with local residents.

Weekly reports from the commandant of the patrol, Sergeant Major Vaskov Fedot Evgrafych, on the anti-aircraft gunners led to regular changes in personnel, but the picture was repeated again and again. Finally, after analyzing the current situation, the command sent a team of female anti-aircraft gunners under the leadership of the foreman.

The new squad had no problems with drinking and revelry, but for Fedot Evgrafych it was unusual for Fedot Evgrafych to command a female, cocky and trained squad, since he himself had only 4 years of education.

Chapter 2

The death of her husband made Margarita Osyanina a stern and withdrawn person. From the moment of the loss of her beloved, the desire for revenge burned in her heart, so she remained to serve on the border near the places where Osyanin died.

To replace the deceased carrier, they sent Komelkova Evgenia, a mischievous red-haired beauty. She also suffered from the Nazis - she had to see with her own eyes the execution of all family members by the Germans. Two dissimilar girls became friends and Rita’s heart began to thaw from the grief she had experienced, thanks to Zhenya’s cheerful and open disposition.

Two girls accepted the shy Galya Chetvertak into their circle. When Rita finds out that she can transfer to the 171st crossing, she immediately agrees, since her son and mother live very close by.

All three anti-aircraft gunners come under the command of Vaskov and Rita, with the help of her friends, makes regular night trips to her relatives.

Chapter 3

Returning in the morning after one of her secret forays, Rita encountered two German soldiers in the forest. They were armed and carried something heavy in bags.

Rita immediately reported this to Vaskov, who guessed that these were saboteurs whose goal was to undermine a strategically important railway junction.

The sergeant-major conveyed important information to the command by telephone and received orders to comb the forest. He decided to go to Lake Vop a short way across the Germans.

Fedot Evgrafych took five girls with him, led by Rita, on reconnaissance. These were Elizaveta Brichkina, Evgenia Komelkova, Galina Chetvertak and Sonya Gurvich as a translator.

Before sending, the soldiers had to be taught how to put on proper shoes so as not to wear out their feet, and also forced to clean their rifles. The conditioned danger signal was the quack of a drake.

Chapter 4

The shortest path to the forest lake was through a marshy swamp. For almost half a day the team had to walk waist-deep in cold swamp slush. Galya Chetvertak lost her boot and footcloth, and part of the way through the swamp she had to walk barefoot.

Having reached the shore, the whole team was able to rest, wash dirty clothes and have a snack. To continue the campaign, Vaskov made a birch bark chunya for Gali. To desired point We only got there in the evening; it was necessary to set up an ambush here.

Chapter 5

When planning a meeting with two fascist soldiers, Vaskov was not very worried and hoped that he would be able to capture them from the forward position, which he placed among the stones. However, in case of an unforeseen event, the foreman provided for the possibility of retreat.

The night passed peacefully, only the fighter Chetvertak became very ill, walking barefoot through the swamp. In the morning, the Germans reached the Sinyukhin ridge between the lakes; the enemy detachment consisted of sixteen people.

Chapter 6

Realizing that he had miscalculated and that he could not stop the large German detachment, Vaskov sent Elizaveta Brichkina for help. He chose Lisa because she grew up in nature and knew her way around the forest very well.

To detain the Nazis, the team decided to depict the noisy activity of lumberjacks. They lit fires, Vaskov cut down trees, the girls called around and cheerfully called to each other. When the German detachment was 10 meters away from them, Zhenya ran straight to the river in order to divert the attention of enemy scouts by swimming.

Their plan worked, the Germans took a detour, and the team managed to gain a whole day of time.

Chapter 7

Lisa was in a hurry for help. Having not followed the foreman’s instructions about a pass on an island in the middle of the swamp, she, tired and cold, continued on her way.

Having almost reached the end of the swamp, Lisa became thoughtful and was very frightened by a large bubble that swelled right in front of her in the dead silence of the swamp.

Instinctively, the girl rushed to the side and lost support under her feet. The pole that Lisa was trying to lean on broke. The last thing she saw before her death was the rays of the rising sun.

Chapter 8

The foreman did not know exactly about the trajectory of the Germans, so he decided to go on reconnaissance with Rita. They found a halt, 12 fascists were resting near a fire and drying clothes. It was not possible to establish where the other four were.

Vaskov decides to change his location, and therefore sends Rita to fetch the girls and at the same time asks to bring his personalized pouch. But in the confusion, the pouch was forgotten in its old place, and Sonya Gurvich, without waiting for the commander’s permission, ran to get the expensive item.

After a short time, the sergeant major heard a barely audible scream. As a seasoned fighter, he guessed what this cry meant. Together with Zhenya, they went in the direction of the sound and found the body of Sonya, killed by two stabs in the chest.

Chapter 9

Leaving Sonya, the foreman and Zhenya set off in pursuit of the fascists so that they would not have time to report the incident to their own. Rage helps the sergeant major clearly think through a plan of action.

Vaskov quickly killed one of the Germans; Zhenya helped him deal with the second, stunning the Fritz in the head with a rifle butt. This was the first hand-to-hand combat for the girl, which she endured very hard.

Vaskov found his pouch in the pocket of one of the Fritzes. The entire team of anti-aircraft gunners, led by the foreman, gathered near Sonya. The body of a colleague was buried with dignity.

Chapter 10

Making their way through the forest, Vaskov’s team unexpectedly ran into the Germans. In a split second, the sergeant-major threw a grenade forward, and machine-gun bursts began to crackle. Not knowing the enemy's strength, the Nazis decided to retreat.

During the short battle, Galya Chetvertak was unable to overcome her fear and did not participate in the shooting. For this behavior, the girls wanted to condemn her at a Komsomol meeting, however, the commander stood up for the confused anti-aircraft gunner.

Despite extreme fatigue, perplexed about the reasons for the delay in help, the foreman goes on reconnaissance, taking Galina with him for educational purposes.

Chapter 11

Galya was very frightened by what was happening real events. A dreamer and writer, she often immersed herself in a fictional world, and therefore the picture of a real war unsettled her.

Vaskov and Chetvertak soon discovered two bodies of German soldiers. By all indications, the soldiers wounded in the firefight were finished off by their own comrades. Not far from this place, the remaining 12 Fritz continued reconnaissance, two of whom had already come very close to Fedot and Gala.

The sergeant-major reliably hid Galina behind the bushes and hid himself in the rocks, but the girl could not cope with her feelings and jumped out of the shelter screaming right into the machine-gun fire of the Germans. Vaskov began to lead the Germans away from his remaining fighters and ran to the swamp, where he took refuge.

During the chase, he was wounded in the arm. When dawn broke, the foreman saw Liza’s skirt in the distance, then he realized that now he could not count on help.

Chapter 12

Being under the yoke of heavy thoughts, the foreman went in search of the Germans. Trying to understand the enemy’s train of thought and examining traces, he came across the Legonta monastery. From a hiding place, he watched as a group of 12 fascists hid explosives in an old hut.

The saboteurs left two soldiers for security, one of whom was wounded. Vaskov managed to neutralize a healthy guard and take possession of his weapon.

The foreman, Rita and Zhenya met on the river bank, in the place where they pretended to be lumberjacks. Having gone through terrible trials, they began to treat each other like brothers. After a halt, they began to prepare for the last battle.

Chapter 13

Vaskov’s team held the defense of the shore as if the entire Motherland was behind them. But the forces were unequal, and the Germans still managed to cross to their shore. Rita was seriously wounded by a grenade explosion.

To save the foreman and her wounded friend, Zhenya, firing back, ran further into the forest, taking the saboteurs with her. The girl was wounded in the side by a blind shot from the enemy, but she didn’t even think about hiding and waiting out.

Already lying in the grass, Zhenya fired until the Germans shot her at point-blank range.

Chapter 14

Fedot Evgrafych, having bandaged Rita and covered her with spruce paws, wanted to go in search of Zhenya and her things. For peace of mind, he decided to leave her a revolver with two cartridges.

Rita understood that she was mortally wounded; she was only afraid that her son would remain an orphan. Therefore, she asked the foreman to take care of Albert, saying that it was from him and her mother that she was returning that morning when she encountered German soldiers.

Vaskov made such a promise, but did not have time to move a few steps away from Rita when the girl shot herself in the temple.

The foreman buried Rita, and then found and buried Zhenya. The wounded arm ached greatly, the whole body burned from pain and tension, but Vaskov decided to go to the monastery to kill at least one more German. He managed to neutralize the sentry; five Fritz were sleeping in the monastery, one of whom he shot immediately.

Having forced them to tie each other up, barely alive, he led them into captivity. Only when Vaskov saw the Russian soldiers did he allow himself to lose consciousness.

Epilogue

Some time after the war, in a letter to his comrade, one tourist describes amazing quiet places in the area of ​​two lakes. In the text, he also mentions an old man without an arm, who came here with his son Albert Fedotich, a rocket captain.

Subsequently, this tourist, together with his new comrades, installed a marble slab with the names on the grave of the female anti-aircraft gunners.

Conclusion

A poignant story about female heroism during the Great Patriotic War leaves an indelible mark on hearts. The author repeatedly emphasizes in his narrative the unnatural nature of women's participation in hostilities, and the blame for this lies with the one who started the war.

In 1972, director Stanislav Rostotsky made a film based on the story. He dedicated it to the nurse who carried him away from the battlefield, saving him from certain death.