The courageous death of girls in the work “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”
The work “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet,” written by Boris Lvovich Vasiliev (lived from 1924-2013), was published in 1969. This story, as the writer himself said, was written on the basis of an episode that happened during the terrible and terrible Great Patriotic War, when wounded soldiers, there were only seven of them, prevented the Germans from blowing up the railway. After this cruel and terrible battle, only one soldier remained alive, the one who commanded the Soviet detachment and had the rank of sergeant. Next we will talk about a brief summary of this work with comments.
The Great Patriotic War brought a lot of grief, destruction and death. It destroyed many lives and families, mothers buried their still very young sons, children lost their parents, wives became widows. Soviet citizens experienced all the hardest hardships of the war, its horror, tears, hunger, death, but still survived and became winners.
Vasiliev B.L. was still a schoolboy in 1941, when the war began, but he, without hesitation, went to the front and served with the rank of lieutenant. In 1943 he received a severe concussion and was unable to fight further. Therefore, he knew what battles were, and his best books were written precisely about war and how a man remained a man while fulfilling his military duty.
In the story by B.L. Vasiliev “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” tells about military events. But the main thing actors of this work They are not men, as is usually the case, but young girls. They resisted the Nazis, being among swamps and lakes. But the Germans outnumbered them and were strong, resilient, they had excellent weapons, and there was a complete lack of pity.
The story takes place in the May days of 1942 at the junction railway, commanded by Fedor Evgrafovich Vaskov, he was only thirty-two years old. The fighters arrived here, but a spree and even drunkenness began. Because of this, the commander wrote several reports and female anti-aircraft gunners arrived on this patrol; they were commanded by Margarita Osyanina, she was widowed, having lost her husband at the front. Then the Nazis killed the shell carrier, and Evgenia Komelkova took her place. There were five girls in total, but they all had different personalities.
The girls (Margarita, Sophia, Galina, Evgeniya, Elizaveta), the author writes about them, are different, but still similar to each other. Osyanina Margarita is gentle, internally beautiful, and has a strong-willed character. She is the bravest of all the girls and has motherly qualities.
Evgenia Komelkova has white skin, red hair, tall stature and the eyes of a child. She has a cheerful character and is prone to excitement and adventure. This girl is tired of war, grief and complicated love for a man, because he is already married and is very far from her. Sophia Gurvich has the poetic, refined character of an excellent student; one gets the impression that Blok wrote about her in his poems.
Brichkina Elizaveta believed that her destiny was to be alive, she knew how to wait. And Galina preferred life in the world of imagination rather than in the real world; she was very afraid of war. This girl is presented in the story as a funny, still immature, clumsy girl from orphanage. She ran away from the orphanage and dreamed of being like actress Lyubov Orlova, wearing long beautiful dresses, get attention from fans.
Unfortunately, the dreams of these anti-aircraft gunner girls did not come true, because they did not have time to really live in this world and died very young.
The anti-aircraft gunners defended their country, they hated the fascists, and always carried out orders accurately. They suffered losses, tears, and experiences. Their friends were dying next to them, but the girls did not give up and did not allow the enemy to pass through the railroad crossing. Their feat allowed the Fatherland to win freedom. There were a lot of such patriots.
These girls had absolutely different life, death overtook them in different ways. Margarita was wounded by a grenade, and in order not to die long and painfully from this mortal wound, she killed herself with a shot to the temple. Galina's death matched the character of the girl herself (with pain and recklessness). Galya could have hidden and survived, but she didn’t hide. Why this happened is unclear, maybe cowardice or short-lived confusion. Sophia died from a dagger pierced into her heart.
Eugenia's death was somewhat reckless and desperate. The girl was confident in herself until her death, even leading the fascists away from Margarita, she thought that everything would end well. And when she received the first bullet in the side, she was only surprised, because she did not believe that she was dying at nineteen years old. Elizabeth's death was stupid and unexpected - she drowned in a swamp.
After the death of the anti-aircraft gunners, their commander Vaskov was left alone with three captured Germans. He saw death, troubles and inhuman torment. But internal forces he had five times more, that's all best qualities, hidden in the depths of the soul, appeared unexpectedly. He felt and lived not only for himself, but also for his “sisters”.
Vaskov grieved for them, did not understand why they died, because they were supposed to live long and give birth to beautiful children. These girls died without sparing their young lives, fulfilling their duty to the country, they fought bravely, courageously, and were examples of patriotism. Anti-aircraft gunners defended their Fatherland. But the foreman blames himself, not his enemies, for their deaths. He claimed that he “put down all five of them.”
After reading this story, I am left with an indelible feeling that I myself observed the everyday life of these anti-aircraft gunner girls at a Karelian railway crossing destroyed by bombing. The basis of this work was an episode, although, of course, it was insignificant on the scale of the terrible Great Patriotic War, but it is described in such a way that all its severity and horrors appear in all its ugliness and unnaturalness of human essence. The title “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” and the brave girls participating in these terrible events only emphasize this.
Composition
“And the dawns here are quiet...” is a story about war. The action takes place during the Great Patriotic War. At one of the railway sidings, soldiers of a separate anti-aircraft machine-gun battalion are serving. These fighters are girls, and they are commanded by Sergeant Major Fedot Evgrafych Baskov. At first this place was a quiet corner. The girls sometimes shot at planes at night. One day something unexpected happened. The Germans appeared. Chasing them into the forest, the girls, led by Vaskov, enter into an unequal battle with them. They die one after another, but rage and pain, the desire for revenge help Vaskov win.
The whole story is written easily, spoken language. Thanks to this, you better understand the thoughts of the characters and what they do. Against the backdrop of the terrible events of May 1942, this junction looks like a resort. At first it really was like this: the girls sunbathed, danced, and at night “excitedly fired at flying German planes with all eight guns.”
There are six main characters in the story: five female anti-aircraft gunners and foreman Vaskov.
Fedot Vaskov is thirty-two years old. He completed four classes of the regimental school, and in ten years rose to the rank of senior officer. Vaskov experienced a personal drama: after the Finnish war, his wife left him. Vaskov demanded his son through the court and sent him to his mother in the village, but the Germans killed him there. The sergeant major always feels older than his years. He is efficient.
Junior sergeant Rita Osyanina married the “red commander” at less than eighteen years old. She sent her son Alik to his parents. Her husband died heroically on the second day of the war, and Rita found out about this only a month later.
Sonya Gurvich- orphan. Her parents most likely died in Minsk. At that time she was studying in Moscow, preparing for the session. She was a translator in the detachment.
Galya Chetvertak does not know her parents. She was dropped off at an orphanage. Accustomed to surrounding everything with mystery, she made me worry about this. Galya told everyone that her mother - medical worker. I believe that this was not a lie, but desires presented as reality.
Lisa Brichkina was the daughter of a forester. One day, their father brought a guest to their house. Lisa really liked him. He promised to place her in a technical school with a dormitory, but the war began. Lisa always believed that tomorrow would come and be better than today.
Zhenya Komelkova, the first beauty of the traveling party, grew up in a good family. She loved to have fun, and one fine day she fell in love with Colonel Luzhin. It was he who picked her up at the front. He had a family, and Zhenya was sent on this patrol for contacting him.
One day the girls were transferred from the front line to a site (crossing). Rita asked that her department be sent there, because from there it was easier to get to the city where her parents and son lived. Returning from the city, it was she who discovered the Germans.
The major ordered Vaskov to catch up with the saboteurs (Rita saw two) and kill them. It is in this campaign that the main action of the story unfolds. Vaskov helps the girls with everything. During the stop at the pass, friendly relations reign between them.
The Germans appear. It turns out that there are sixteen of them. Vaskov sends Lisa back to the patrol. Lisa Brichkina died first. She drowned in a swamp while returning to the crossing: “Liza saw this beautiful blue sky for a long time. Wheezing, she spat out dirt and reached out, reached out to him, reached out and believed.” Until the last moment she believed that tomorrow would come for her too.
Sonya Gurvich was shot when she returned for Vaskov’s forgotten pouch.
Galya Chetvertak's nerves could not stand it when she sat with the foreman on patrol.
Rita Osyanina was wounded by a grenade, and Zhenya died while taking the Germans away from her. Rita, knowing that her wound was fatal, shot herself in the temple.
Together with the author, you experience these deaths and the pain of Vaskov, who managed to win.
The story is written very vividly and clearly. Optimistic girls are shown against the backdrop of war. Vaskov's victory symbolizes the victory of the Russians over the Germans. A hard-fought victory full of losses.
At the end of the story, in the epilogue, Boris Vasiliev shows a couple of heroes - Albert Fedotich and his dad. Apparently, Albert is the same Alik, Rita’s son. Fedot Baskov adopted him, the boy considers him his real father.
This means that, despite all the difficulties and hardships, the Russian people are alive and will live.
The depiction of nature is very interesting. Beautiful views, drawn by the author, highlight everything that happens. Nature seems to look at people with pity and sympathy, as if saying: “Foolish children, stop.”
“And the dawns here are quiet...” Everything will pass, but the place will remain the same. Quiet, silent, beautiful, and only the marble gravestones will turn white, reminding of what has already passed. This work serves as an excellent illustration of the events of the Great Patriotic War.
This story really amazed me. The first time I read it, sitting with a handkerchief in my hand, because it was impossible to resist. It was because of this strong impression, so memorable to me, that I decided to write about this work. The main idea of this story is the invincibility of people fighting for the freedom of the Motherland, for a just cause.
I, like all my peers, do not know war. I don’t know and I don’t want war. But those who died did not want it either, not thinking about death, about the fact that they would no longer see the sun, grass, leaves, or children. Those five girls didn’t want war either!
Boris Vasiliev's story shook me to the core. Rita Osyanina, Zhenya Komelkova, Lisa Brichkina, Galya Chetvertak. In each of them I find a little of myself, they are close to me. Each of them could be my mother, could tell me about beauty, teach me how to live. And I could be in the place of any of them, because I also like to listen to the silence and meet people like this “ quiet, quiet dawns».
I don't even know which of them is closer to me. They are all so different, but so similar. Rita Osyanina, strong-willed and gentle, rich in spiritual beauty. She is the center of their courage, she is the cement of achievement, she is the Mother! Zhenya... Zhenya, Zhenya, cheerful, funny, beautiful, mischievous to the point of adventure, desperate and tired of war, of pain, of love, long and painful, for a distant and married man. Sonya Gurvich is the embodiment of an excellent student and a poetic nature - a “beautiful stranger”, who came out of a volume of poems by Alexander Blok. Lisa Brichkina... “Oh, Lisa-Lizaveta, you should study!” I would like to study, I would like to see Big city with its theaters and concert halls, its libraries and art galleries. And you, Lisa... The war got in the way! You won’t find your happiness, won’t give you lectures: I didn’t have time to see everything I dreamed of! Galya Chetvertak, who never grew up, is a funny and clumsily childish girl. Notes, escape from the orphanage and also dreams... to become new love Orlova.
None of them had time to realize their dreams, they just didn’t have time to live own life. Death was different for everyone, just as their fates were different: for Rita - an effort of will and a shot in the temple; Zhenya’s is desperate and a little reckless, she could have hidden and stayed alive, but she didn’t hide; Sonya's is a dagger strike at poetry; Galya's is as painful and merciless as herself; Lisa - “Ah, Lisa-Lizaveta, I didn’t have time, I couldn’t overcome the quagmire of war...”.
And the Basque foreman, whom I have not yet mentioned, remains alone. Alone in the midst of pain, torment; one with death, one with three prisoners. Is it alone? He now has five times more strength. And what was best in him, humane, but hidden in his soul, was suddenly revealed, and what he experienced, he felt for himself and for them, for his girls, his “sisters.”
As the foreman laments: “How can we live now? Why is this so? After all, they don’t need to die, but give birth to children, because they are mothers!” Tears inevitably come to your eyes when you read these lines.
But we must not only cry, we must also remember, because the dead do not leave the lives of those who loved them. They just don’t grow old, remaining forever young in people’s hearts.
Why is this particular work memorable to me? Probably because this writer is one of best writers our time. Probably because Boris Vasiliev managed to turn the topic of war on that unusual side, which is perceived especially painfully. After all, we, including myself, are accustomed to combining the words “war” and “men,” but here are women, girls and war. Vasiliev managed to construct the plot in such a way, to tie everything together in such a way that it is difficult to single out individual episodes, this story is a single whole, fused. A beautiful and indivisible monument: five girls and a foreman, standing in the middle of the Russian land: forests, swamps, lakes, against an enemy, strong, hardy, mechanically killing, who significantly exceeds them in number. But they did not let anyone through, they stood and stand, poured out of hundreds and thousands of similar destinies, exploits, from all the pain and strength of the Russian people.
Women, Russian women, who defeated war and death! And each of them lives in me and other girls, we just don’t notice it. We walk the streets, talk, think, dream like them, but a moment comes and we feel confidence, their confidence: “There is no death! There is life and struggle for Happiness and Love!”
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Beloved Komelkova
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Galya Chetvertak is an orphan, a pupil of an orphanage. In the orphanage she received her nickname for her short stature. Dreamer. She lived in a world of her own fantasies, and went to the front with the conviction that war is romance. After the orphanage, Galya ended up in a library technical school. The war found her in her third year. On the first day of the war, their entire group was sent to the military commissar. Everyone was assigned, but Galya didn’t fit anywhere, either in age or height. During the battle with the Germans, Vaskov took Galya with him, but she, unable to withstand the nervous tension of waiting for the Germans, ran out of cover and was shot by the Nazis. Despite such a “ridiculous” death, the foreman told the girls that she died “in a shootout.”
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One of the main heroines of Boris Lvovich Vasiliev’s story “And the dawns here are quiet...”.
Zhenya is a very beautiful red-haired girl, the other heroines were amazed at her beauty. Tall, slender, with fair skin. My wife is 19 years old. Zhenya has her own account with the Germans: when the Germans captured Zhenya’s village, Zhenya herself managed to hide the Estonian woman. In front of the girl's eyes, the Nazis shot her mother, sister and brother. She goes to war to avenge the death of her loved ones. Despite the grief, “her character was cheerful and smiling.” In Vaskov's platoon, Zhenya showed artistry, but there was also enough room for heroism - it was she who, calling fire on herself, led the Germans away from Rita and Vaskov. She saves Vaskov when he fights the second German who killed Sonya Gurvich. The Germans first wounded Zhenya and then shot her point-blank.
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Senior sergeant, deputy platoon commander of female anti-aircraft gunners.
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One of the main heroines of Boris Lvovich Vasiliev’s story “And the dawns here are quiet...”.
Liza Brichkina is a simple village girl, originally from the Bryansk region. The forester's daughter. One day, their father brought a guest to their house. Lisa really liked him. Seeing the conditions in which the girl is growing up, the guest invites Lisa to come to the capital and enter a technical school with a dormitory, but Lisa did not have the chance to become a student - the war began. Lisa always believed that tomorrow would come and be better than today. Lisa died first. She drowned in a swamp while carrying out the task of Sergeant Major Vaskov.
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Postman
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Sergeant Major Vaskov's landlady
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One of the main heroines of Boris Lvovich Vasiliev’s story “And the dawns here are quiet...”.
Rita is strict, she never laughs, she just moves her lips a little, but her eyes still remain serious. “Rita was not one of the lively ones...” Rita Mushtakova, the first of her class, out of great love, married senior lieutenant Osyanin, with whom she gave birth to a son, Albert. And more happy girl was not in the world. At the outpost she was immediately elected to the women's council and enrolled in all the circles. Rita learned to bandage the wounded and shoot, ride a horse, throw grenades and protect against gases, and then... war. On the very first day of the war, she turned out to be one of the few who was not confused and did not panic. She was generally calm and reasonable. Rita's husband died on the second day of the war during a counterattack on June 23, 1941. Upon learning that her husband is no longer alive, she goes to war in her husband's place to protect little son who stayed with his mother. They wanted to send Rita to the rear, but she asked to go into battle. They drove her away, forced her into heated vehicles, but the persistent wife of the deceased deputy head of the outpost, Senior Lieutenant Osyanin, appeared again at the headquarters of the fortified area every other day. In the end, she was hired as a nurse, and six months later she was sent to the regimental anti-aircraft school. The authorities valued the unsmiling widow of the hero-border guard: she noted it in orders, set it as an example, and therefore respected her personal request - to be sent, after completing her studies, to the area where the outpost stood, where her husband died in a fierce bayonet battle. Now Rita could consider herself satisfied: she had achieved what she wanted. Even the death of her husband faded into the farthest corner of her memory: Rita had a job, and she learned to hate quietly and mercilessly... In Vaskov’s platoon, Rita became friends with Zhenya Komelkova and Galya Chetvertak. She died last, putting a bullet in her temple and thereby saving Fedot Vaskov. Before her death, she asked him to take care of her son. The death of Rita Osyanina is psychologically the most difficult moment of the story. Boris Vasiliev very accurately conveys the state
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One of the main heroines of Boris Lvovich Vasiliev’s story “And the dawns here are quiet...”.
Sonya Gurvich is a girl who grew up in a large, friendly Jewish family. Sonya is originally from Minsk. Her father was a local doctor. She herself studied for a year at Moscow University and knew well German. A neighbor at lectures, Sonya’s first love, with whom they spent only one unforgettable evening in a cultural park, volunteered for the front. Knowing German, she could be a good translator, but there were many translators, so she was assigned to an anti-aircraft gunner (of whom, in turn, there were few). Sonya is the second victim of the Germans in Vaskov's platoon. She runs away from the others to find and return Vaskov’s pouch, and stumbles upon patrol saboteurs who killed Sonya with two stabs in the chest.
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Major, Vaskov's commander
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The main character of Boris Lvovich Vasiliev's story "And the dawns here are quiet...".
Petty Officer Fedot Vaskov is the commandant of the 171st patrol in the Karelian wilderness. The crews of the anti-aircraft installations of the patrol, finding themselves in a quiet situation, begin to suffer from idleness and get drunk. In response to Vaskov’s requests to “send non-drinkers,” the command sends two squads of female anti-aircraft gunners there... Fedot completed four classes of the regimental school, and in ten years rose to the rank of senior officer. Vaskov experienced a personal drama: after the Finnish war, his wife left him. Vaskov demanded his son through the court and sent him to his mother in the village, but the Germans killed him there. The sergeant major always feels older than his years. The author emphasizes the peasant mind and peasant spirit in the “gloomy foreman” Fedot Vaskov. “Solid taciturnity”, “peasant slowness”, special “masculine thoroughness” since “he was the only man left in the family - the breadwinner, the water provider, and the breadwinner.” The female anti-aircraft gunners subordinate to him call thirty-two-year-old Vaskov behind his back as “an old man” and “a mossy stump with twenty words in reserve, and even those from the regulations.” “All his life, Fedot Evgrafovich followed orders. He did it literally, quickly and with pleasure. He was the transmission gear of a huge, carefully adjusted mechanism.” Having encountered with his “search group” of five “girls with three-rulers in an embrace” sixteen armed fascist thugs from head to toe, rushing through the Sinyukhin ridge to the Kirov railway, to the “canal named after. Comrade Stalin,” Vaskov “hid his confusion. I thought and thought, turned my heavy brains, sucked at all the possibilities of the upcoming deadly meeting. From his military experience, he knew that “playing Hovanki with a German is almost like playing with death,” that the enemy “must be beaten. Beat until he crawls into the lair,” without pity, without mercy. Realizing how difficult it is for a woman, who always gives birth to life, to kill, he taught and explained: “These are not people. Not people, not people, not even animals - fascists. So look accordingly"
War is no place for a woman. But in an effort to defend their country, their fatherland, even representatives of the fair half of humanity are ready to fight. Boris Lvovich Vasiliev in the story “And the dawns here are quiet...” was able to convey hard fate five female anti-aircraft gunners and their commander during the second war.
The author himself claimed that a real event was chosen as the basis for the plot. Seven soldiers who served on one of the sections of the Kirov Railway were able to repel the Nazi invaders. They fought with the sabotage group and prevented the bombing of their site. Unfortunately, in the end only the squad leader remained alive. He will subsequently be given a medal “For Military Merit.”
The writer found this story interesting, and he decided to put it on paper. However, when Vasiliev began writing the book, he realized that in the post-war period many exploits were covered, and such an act was only a special case. Then the author decided to change the gender of his characters, and the story began to sparkle with new colors. After all, not everyone decided to cover women’s lot in the war.
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 the tragic events described by the author, all that remains is to 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– young beautiful girl, 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 squad towards herself, wanting to save the others.
- 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.
- 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 B. Vasiliev’s work, 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. They were ordinary soviet people With different characters and fate. 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 the middle 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.
- 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.
Themes
Problems
The problems 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.
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 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 main idea the writer’s 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 encroaches on 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.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!The story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” summary which is given later in the article, talks 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 of a 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 big 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, cherished dream she was eager to see her numerous 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.
She grew up in an orphanage and didn’t even have her own last name. Because of her vertically challenged An 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 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 foreman betrayed important information command by telephone and received orders to comb the forest. He decided to go to Lake Vop shortcut against 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 she had to walk part of the way through the swamp with bare feet.
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. We reached the desired point only in the evening; here it was necessary to set up an ambush.
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 while 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.
Through 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 the real events that were taking place. A dreamer and writer, she often immersed herself in a fictional world, and therefore the picture real war threw her off track.
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 the 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.