May 1942 Countryside in Russia. There is a war with Nazi Germany. The 171st railway siding is commanded by foreman Fedot Evgrafych Vaskov. He is thirty-two years old. He has only four classes of education. Vaskov was married, but his wife ran away with the regimental veterinarian, and his son soon died.
It's calm at the junction. The soldiers arrive here, look around, and then start "drinking and walking." Vaskov persistently writes reports, and, in the end, he is sent a platoon of "non-drinking" fighters - girls-anti-aircraft gunners. At first, the girls laugh at Vaskov, but he doesn't know how to deal with them. Rita Osyanina is in command of the first squad of the platoon. Rita's husband died on the second day of the war. She sent her son Albert to his parents. Soon Rita got into the regimental anti-aircraft school. With the death of her husband, she learned to hate the Germans "quietly and mercilessly" and was harsh with the girls from her department.
The Germans kill the tray, instead they send Zhenya Komelkova, a slender red-haired beauty. In front of Zhenya's eyes, a year ago, the Germans shot her relatives. After their death, Zhenya crossed the front. She picked her up, defended "and not that he took advantage of the helplessness - Colonel Luzhin stuck to himself." He was a family man, and the military commanders, having found out about this, “took the colonel into circulation”, and sent Zhenya “into a good team”. Despite everything, Zhenya is "sociable and mischievous." Her fate immediately "crosses out Ritin's exclusivity." Zhenya and Rita converge, and the latter "thaws".
When it comes to transferring from the front line to the patrol, Rita is encouraged and asks to send her squad. The exit is located not far from the city where her mother and son live. At night, Rita secretly runs into the city, carries her groceries. One day, returning at dawn, Rita sees two Germans in the forest. She wakes up Vaskov. He receives an order from his superiors to "catch" the Germans. Vaskov calculates that the route of the Germans lies on the Kirov railway. The sergeant major decides to take a shortcut through the swamps to the Sinyukhina ridge, stretching between two lakes, along which only one can get to the railway, and wait for the Germans there - they will probably go by the roundabout route. Vaskov takes Rita, Zhenya, Liza Brichkina, Sonya Gurvich and Galya Chetvertak with him.
Liza is from the Bryansk region, she is the daughter of a forester. She had been caring for her terminally ill mother for five years and was unable to finish school because of this. A visiting hunter, who awakened her first love in Liza, promised to help her enter the technical school. But the war began, Liza got into the anti-aircraft unit. Lisa likes the Vaskov Chief.
Sonya Gurvich is from Minsk. Her father was a district doctor, they had a large and friendly family. She herself studied for a year at Moscow University, she knows German. Neighbor on lectures, Sonya's first love, with whom they spent only one unforgettable evening in the park of culture, volunteered for the front.
Galya Chetvertak grew up in an orphanage. There her first love "overtook" her. After the orphanage, Galya got into the library technical school. The war found her in her third year.
The path to Lake Vop lies through the swamps. Vaskov leads the girls along a path well known to him, on both sides of which there is a quagmire. The soldiers safely reach the lake and, hiding on the Sinyukhina ridge, await the Germans. Those do not appear on the shore of the lake until the next morning. There are not two of them, but sixteen. While the Germans have about three hours to go to Vaskov and the girls, the foreman sends Lisa Brichkina back to the crossing to report on the change in the situation. But Liza, crossing the swamp, stumbles and drowns. Nobody knows about this, and everyone is waiting for help. Until then, the girls decide to mislead the Germans. They portray lumberjacks, shout loudly, Vaskov knocks down trees.
The Germans are retreating to Lake Legontovo, not daring to walk along the Sinyukhina ridge, on which, as they think, someone is cutting down a forest. Vaskov with the girls moves to a new place. In the same place he left his pouch, and Sonya Gurvich volunteers to bring it. In a hurry, she stumbles upon two Germans who kill her. Vaskov and Zhenya kill these Germans. Sonya is buried.
Soon, the soldiers see the rest of the Germans approaching them. Hiding behind bushes and boulders, they shoot first, the Germans retreat, fearing an invisible enemy. Zhenya and Rita accuse Galya of cowardice, but Vaskov defends her and takes her with him into reconnaissance for "educational purposes." But Vaskov does not suspect what mark Sonina's death left in Gali's soul. She is terrified and gives herself away at the most crucial moment, and the Germans kill her.
Fedot Evgrafych takes the Germans upon himself in order to take them away from Zhenya and Rita. He is wounded in the arm. But he manages to leave and reach the island in the swamp. In the water, he notices Lisa's skirt and realizes that help will not come. Vaskov finds the place where the Germans are staying for rest, kills one of them and goes to look for the girls. They are preparing to take the final battle. The Germans appear. In an unequal battle, Vaskov and the girls kill several Germans. Rita is mortally wounded, and while Vaskov drags her to safety, the Germans kill Zhenya. Rita asks Vaskov to take care of her son and shoots herself in the temple. Vaskov buries Zhenya and Rita. After that, he goes to the forest hut, where the surviving five Germans are sleeping. Vaskov kills one of them on the spot, and takes four prisoners. They themselves tie each other with belts, because they do not believe that Vaskov is "one and the same for many miles." He loses consciousness from pain only when his own Russians are already coming towards him.
Many years later, a gray-haired stocky old man without an arm and a rocket captain, whose name is Albert Fedotych, will bring a marble slab to Rita's grave.
Retold
The story "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" by Boris Vasiliev is one of the most heartfelt and tragic works about the Great Patriotic War. First published 1969.
The story is about five girls-anti-aircraft gunners and the foreman who entered the battle with sixteen German saboteurs. The heroes talk to us from the pages of the story about the unnaturalness of war, about the personality in war, about the strength of the human spirit.
The main theme of the story - a woman in war - reflects the whole "mercilessness of war", but the topic itself was not raised in the literature about the war before the appearance of Vasiliev's story. To understand the series of events in the story, you can read the summary "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" by chapters on our website.
main characters
Vaskov Fedot Evgrafych- 32 years old, foreman, commander of the patrol, where anti-aircraft gunners were assigned to the service.
Brichkina Elizaveta-19 years old, the daughter of a forester, who lived before the war on one of the cordons in the forests of the Bryansk region in "a presentiment of dazzling happiness."
Gurvich Sonya- a girl from an intelligent "very large and very close-knit family" of a Minsk doctor. After studying for a year at Moscow University, she went to the front. Loves theater and poetry.
Komelkova Evgeniya- 19 years. Zhenya has her own account with the Germans: her family was shot. Despite her grief, "her character was cheerful and smiling."
Osyanina Margarita- the first of the class got married, a year later gave birth to a son. The husband, a border guard, died on the second day of the war. Leaving the child to her mother, Rita went to the front.
Chetvertak Galina- a pupil of an orphanage, a dreamer. She lived in a world of her own fantasies, and went to the front with the conviction that war is romance.
Other characters
Kiryanova- Sergeant, platoon commander of female anti-aircraft gunners.
Summary
Chapter 1
In May 1942, at 171 railway sidings, which were inside the military operations going around, several courtyards survived. The Germans stopped bombing. In case of a raid, the command left two anti-aircraft guns.
Life at the junction was quiet and calm, the anti-aircraft gunners could not withstand the temptation of female attention and moonshine, and according to the report of the commander of the junction, foreman Vaskov, one "swollen with fun" and drunkenness, a half-platoon was replaced by the next one ... Vaskov asked to send non-drinkers.
The "non-drinking" anti-aircraft gunners arrived. The fighters turned out to be very young, and they were ... girls.
It became calm at the junction. The girls made fun of the foreman, Vaskov felt uncomfortable in the presence of "learned" fighters: he had only 4 classes of education. The main concern was caused by the internal "disorder" of the heroines - they did not do everything "according to the charter."
Chapter 2
Having lost her husband, Rita Osyanina, the commander of the anti-aircraft gunner squad, became harsh and withdrawn. Once they killed the tray, and instead of her they sent the beautiful Zhenya Komelkova, in whose eyes the Germans shot her relatives. Despite the tragedy experienced. Zhenya is open and mischievous. Rita and Zhenya became friends, and Rita “thawed out”.
Galya Chetvertak, a "wicked" girl, becomes their friend.
Hearing about the possibility of transferring from the front line to the siding, Rita perks up - it turns out that she has a son next to the siding in the city. At night, Rita runs to visit her son.
Chapter 3
Returning from an unauthorized absence through the forest, Osyanina discovers two strangers in camouflage coats, with weapons and packages in their hands. She is in a hurry to tell the commander of the junction about this. Having carefully listened to Rita, the foreman realizes that she faced German saboteurs moving towards the railway, and decides to go to intercept the enemy. 5 female anti-aircraft gunners were assigned to Vaskov's disposal. Worried about them, the foreman tries to prepare his "guard" for a meeting with the Germans and to cheer, jokes, "so that they laugh, so that cheerfulness appears."
Rita Osyanina, Zhenya Komelkova, Liza Brichkina, Galya Chetvertak and Sonya Gurvich with the head of the group Vaskov set off by a short route to Vop-Lake, where they expect to meet and detain the saboteurs.
Chapter 4
Fedot Evgrafych safely leads his soldiers through the swamps, bypassing the swamps (only Galya Chetvertak loses her boots in the swamp), to the lake. It is quiet here, "as in a dream." “And before the war, these lands were not very crowded, but now they have completely run wild, as if the lumberjacks, and hunters, and fishermen had gone to the front.”
Chapter 5
Expecting to quickly cope with the two saboteurs, Vaskov nevertheless "for safety reasons" chose the path of retreat. In anticipation of the Germans, the girls had lunch, the foreman gave a military order to detain the Germans when they appeared, and everyone took up positions.
Galya Chetvertak, wet in the swamp, fell ill.
The Germans appeared only in the morning: "from the depths all came out and came out gray-green figures with machine guns at the ready", and there were not two of them, but sixteen.
Chapter 6
Realizing that "five funny girls and five rifle clips" cannot cope with the Nazis, Vaskov sends the "forest" inhabitant Liza Brichkina on the patrol, informing them that reinforcements are needed.
Trying to scare the Germans away and make them go around, Vaskov and the girls pretend that lumberjacks are working in the forest. They call loudly, fire fires, the foreman chops down trees, and desperate Zhenya even bathes in the river in full view of the saboteurs.
The Germans left, and everyone laughed "to tears, to exhaustion," thinking that the worst had passed ...
Chapter 7
Liza "flew through the forest as if on wings," thinking about Vaskov, and missed a noticeable pine tree, near which it was necessary to turn. Moving with difficulty in the swamp slurry, she stumbled and lost the path. Feeling the quagmire swallow her up, she saw the sunlight for the last time.
Chapter 8
Vaskov, realizing that although the enemy has disappeared, can attack the detachment at any moment, goes with Rita to reconnaissance. Having found out that the Germans have settled on a halt, the foreman decides to change the location of the group and sends Osyanina for the girls. Vaskov is upset to find that he forgot his pouch. Seeing this, Sonya Gurvich runs to pick up the pouch.
Vaskov does not have time to stop the girl. After a while, he hears "a distant, weak, like a sigh, voice, an almost soundless scream." Guessing what this sound might mean, Fedot Evgrafych summons Zhenya Komelkova with him and goes to her previous position. Together they find Sonya killed by the enemies.
Chapter 9
Vaskov furiously pursued the saboteurs to avenge Sonya's death. Imperceptibly getting close to the "Fritz" walking without fear, the foreman kills the first, there is not enough strength for the second. Zhenya saves Vaskov from death by killing a German with a rifle butt. Fedot Evgrafych "was filled with grief, up to his throat full" because of the death of Sonya. But, understanding the state of Zhenya, who painfully endures the murder she committed, explains that the enemies themselves have violated human laws and therefore she needs to understand: “these are not people, not humans, not even animals - fascists”.
Chapter 10
The detachment buried Sonya and moved on. Looking out from behind another boulder, Vaskov saw the Germans - they were going straight for them. Starting the oncoming battle, the girls and the commander forced the saboteurs to retreat, only Galya Chetvertak threw her rifle out of fear and fell to the ground.
After the battle, the foreman canceled the meeting, where the girls wanted to judge Galya for cowardice, he explained her behavior by inexperience and confusion.
Vaskov goes on reconnaissance and takes Galya with him for education.
Chapter 11
Galya Chetvertak followed Vaskov. She, who always lived in her fictional world, at the sight of the murdered Sonya, was broken by the horror of a real war.
The scouts saw the corpses: the wounded were finished off by their own. There were 12 saboteurs left.
Hiding in ambush with Galya, Vaskov is ready to shoot the Germans who have appeared. Suddenly, Galya Chetvertak, who did not understand anything, rushed to cut through the enemies, and was struck by a burst of machine-gun fire.
The foreman decided to take the saboteurs as far away from Rita and Zhenya as possible. Until nightfall, he rushed between the trees, made noise, briefly fired at the flickering figures of the enemy, shouted, dragging the Germans closer and closer to the swamps with him. Wounded in the arm, he hid in a swamp.
At dawn, getting out of the swamp to the ground, the foreman saw Brichkina's army skirt blackened on the surface of the swamp, tied to a pole, and realized that Liza had died in the bog.
There was no hope for help now ...
Chapter 12
With heavy thoughts that “he lost his whole war yesterday,” but with the hope that Rita and Zhenya are alive, Vaskov sets off in search of saboteurs. He comes across an abandoned hut, which turned out to be a refuge for the Germans. Watches how they hide explosives and go on reconnaissance. Vaskov kills one of the remaining enemies in the skete and takes the weapon.
On the bank of the river, where yesterday "a play was staged for the Fritz," the foreman and the girls meet - with joy, like sisters and brother. The foreman says that Galya and Liza died a heroic death, and that all of them will have to take the last, apparently, battle.
Chapter 13
The Germans came ashore and the battle began. “Vaskov knew one thing in this battle: not to retreat. Not to give the German a single piece on this bank. No matter how hard it is, no matter how hopeless it is, to keep it. " It seemed to Fedot Vaskov that he was the last son of his Motherland and its last defender. The detachment did not allow the Germans to cross to the other side.
Rita was severely wounded in the stomach by a grenade fragment.
Firing back, Komelkova tried to take the Germans away with her. Cheerful, smiling and cheerful Zhenya did not even immediately realize that she had been wounded - after all, it was stupid and impossible to die at the age of nineteen! She fired while there was ammo and strength. "The Germans finished off her point blank, and then looked at her proud and beautiful face for a long time ..."
Chapter 14
Realizing that she is dying, Rita tells Vaskov about her son Albert and asks to take care of him. The sergeant major shares with Osyanina his first doubts: was it worth protecting the canal and the road at the cost of the death of the girls, who had their whole lives ahead of them? But Rita believes that “Motherland does not begin with channels. Not from there at all. And we defended her. First her, and only then the channel. "
Vaskov went to meet the enemies. Hearing the faint sound of a shot, he returned. Rita shot herself, not wanting to suffer and be a burden.
Having buried Zhenya and Rita, almost exhausted, Vaskov wandered forward to the abandoned skete. Bursting into the saboteurs, he killed one of them, and took four prisoners. In delirium, the wounded Vaskov leads the saboteurs to his own, and, only realizing that he has reached, he loses consciousness.
Epilogue
From the letter of a tourist (it was written many years after the end of the war), resting on quiet lakes, where there is "complete lack of cars and desolation", we learn that the gray-haired old man without an arm and the rocket captain Albert Fedotych who arrived there brought a marble slab. Together with the visitors, the tourist searches for the grave of the anti-aircraft gunners who once perished here. He notices how quiet the dawns are here ...
Conclusion
For many years, the tragic fate of the heroines does not leave indifferent readers of any age, forcing them to realize the value of a peaceful life, the greatness and beauty of true patriotism.
The retelling "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" gives an idea of the storyline of the work, acquaints with its heroes. To penetrate the essence, to feel the charm of the lyrical narration and the psychological subtlety of the author's story, it will be possible when reading the full text of the story.
"And the dawns here are quiet ..."- a work written by Boris Vasiliev, about the fate of five female anti-aircraft gunners and their commander during the Great Patriotic War.
Chapter 1 "And the dawns here are quiet ..."
May 1942. Several courtyards survived at 171 railway sidings, which found themselves inside the hostilities. The Germans stopped bombing. In case of a raid, the command left two anti-aircraft guns. Life at the junction was quiet and calm, the anti-aircraft gunners could not withstand the temptation of female attention and moonshine, and according to the report of the commander of the junction, foreman Baskov began only to drink and walk ... Vaskov asked to send non-drinkers.
The "teetotal" anti-aircraft gunners arrived - young girls.
It became calm at the junction. The girls made fun of the foreman, Vaskov felt uncomfortable in the presence of "learned" fighters: he had only 4 classes of education. The main concern was caused by the internal "disorder" of the heroines - they did everything not according to the charter.
Chapter 2 "And the dawns here are quiet ..."
Having lost her husband, Rita Osyanina, the commander of the anti-aircraft gunner squad, became harsh and withdrawn. Once they killed the tray, and instead of her they sent the beautiful Zhenya Komelkova, in whose eyes the Germans shot her relatives. Despite the tragedy experienced. Zhenya is open and mischievous. Rita and Zhenya became friends, and Rita came to her senses.
Galya Chetvertak becomes their friend.
Hearing about the possibility of transferring from the front line to the siding, Rita perks up - it turns out that she has a son next to the siding in the city. At night, Rita runs to visit her son.
Chapter 3 "And the dawns here are quiet ..."
Returning from an unauthorized absence through the forest, Osyanina discovers two strangers in camouflage coats, with weapons and packages in their hands. She tells the commander of the crossing about this. The foreman realizes that she faced German saboteurs moving in the direction of the railway, and decides to go to intercept the enemy. 5 female anti-aircraft gunners were assigned to Vaskov's disposal. Worried about them, the foreman tries to prepare his "guard" for a meeting with the Germans and to cheer them up.
Rita Osyanina, Zhenya Komelkova, Liza Brichkina, Galya Chetvertak and Sonya Gurvich with the head of the group Vaskov set off by a short route to Vop-Lake, where they expect to meet and detain the saboteurs.
Chapter 4 "And the dawns here are quiet ..."
Fedot Evgrafych safely leads his soldiers through the swamps, bypassing the swamps (only Galya Chetvertak loses her boots in the swamp), to the lake. It is quiet here, as in a dream.
Chapter 5 "And the dawns here are quiet ..."
Expecting to quickly cope with the two saboteurs, Vaskov nevertheless "for safety reasons" chose the path of retreat. In anticipation of the Germans, the girls had lunch, the foreman gave a military order to detain the Germans when they appeared, and everyone took up positions.
Galya Chetvertak, wet in the swamp, fell ill.
The Germans appeared in the morning: but there were not two of them, but sixteen.
Chapter 6 "And the dawns here are quiet ..."
Realizing that the five girls cannot cope with the Nazis, Vaskov sends the "forest" inhabitant Liza Brichkina to the patrol to get reinforcements.
Trying to scare the Germans away and make them go around, Vaskov and the girls pretend that lumberjacks are working in the forest. They call loudly, fire fires, the foreman chops down trees, and desperate Zhenya even bathes in the river in full view of the saboteurs.
The Germans left, and everyone thought that the worst was over ...
Chapter 7 "And the dawns here are quiet ..."
Liza was in a hurry, thinking about Vaskov, and missed a noticeable pine tree, near which it was necessary to turn. Moving with difficulty in the swamp slurry, she stumbled and lost the path. She got stuck in a swamp and drowned.
Chapter 8 "And the dawns here are quiet ..."
Vaskov, realizing that although the enemy has disappeared, can attack the detachment at any moment, goes with Rita to reconnaissance. Having found out that the Germans have settled on a halt, the foreman decides to change the location of the group and sends Osyanina for the girls. Vaskov is upset to find that he forgot his pouch. Seeing this, Sonya Gurvich runs to pick up the pouch.
Vaskov does not have time to stop the girl. After a while, he hears a scream. Guessing what this sound might mean, Fedot summons Zhenya Komelkova with him and goes to her previous position. Together they find Sonya killed by the enemies.
Chapter 9 "And the Dawns Here Are Quiet ..."
Vaskov furiously pursued the saboteurs to avenge Sonya's death. Imperceptibly getting close to the "Fritz" walking without fear, the foreman kills the first, there is not enough strength for the second. Zhenya saves Vaskov from death by killing a German with a rifle butt. Fedot Evgrafych suffered from the death of Sonya. But, understanding the state of Zhenya, who painfully endures the murder she committed, explains that the enemies themselves have violated human laws and therefore she needs to understand: “these are not people, not humans, not even animals - fascists”.
Chapter 10 "And the dawns here are quiet ..."
He buried Sonya and moved on. Looking out from behind another boulder, Vaskov saw the Germans - they were going straight for them. Starting the oncoming battle, the girls and the commander forced the saboteurs to retreat, only Galya Chetvertak threw her rifle out of fear and fell to the ground.
After the battle, the foreman canceled the meeting, where the girls wanted to judge Galya for cowardice, he explained her behavior by inexperience and confusion.
Vaskov goes on reconnaissance and takes Galya with him for education.
Chapter 11 "And the dawns here are quiet ..."
Galya Chetvertak followed Vaskov. She, who always lived in her fictional world, at the sight of the murdered Sonya, was broken by the horror of a real war.
The scouts saw the corpses: the wounded were finished off by their own. There were 12 saboteurs left.
Hiding in ambush with Galya, Vaskov is ready to shoot the Germans who have appeared. Suddenly, Galya Chetvertak, who did not understand anything, rushed to cut through the enemies, and was struck by a burst of machine-gun fire.
The foreman decided to take the saboteurs as far away from Rita and Zhenya as possible. Until nightfall, he rushed between the trees, made noise, briefly fired at the flickering figures of the enemy, shouted, dragging the Germans closer and closer to the swamps with him. Wounded in the arm, he hid in a swamp.
At dawn, having got out of the swamp, the foreman saw Brichkina's army skirt blackened on the surface of the swamp, tied to a pole, and realized that Liza had died in the bog.
There was no hope for help now ...
Chapter 12 "And the dawns here are quiet ..."
With heavy thoughts that “he lost his whole war yesterday,” but with the hope that Rita and Zhenya are alive, Vaskov sets off in search of saboteurs. He comes across an abandoned hut, which turned out to be a refuge for the Germans. Watches how they hide explosives and go on reconnaissance. Vaskov kills one of the remaining enemies in the skete and takes the weapon.
On the bank of the river, where yesterday "a play was staged for the Fritz," the foreman and the girls meet - with joy, like sisters and brother. The foreman says that Galya and Liza died a heroic death, and that all of them will have to take the last, apparently, battle.
Chapter 13 "And the dawns here are quiet ..."
The Germans came ashore and the battle began. Vaskov knew one thing in this battle: not to retreat. Not to give the German a single piece on this bank. No matter how hard it is, no matter how hopeless it is - to hold. It seemed to Vaskov that he was the last son of his Motherland and its last defender. The detachment did not allow the Germans to cross to the other side.
Rita was severely wounded in the stomach by a grenade fragment.
Firing back, Komelkova tried to take the Germans away with her. Cheerful, smiling and cheerful Zhenya did not even immediately realize that she had been wounded - after all, it was stupid and impossible to die at the age of nineteen! She fired while there was ammo and strength. "The Germans finished off her point blank, and then looked at her proud and beautiful face for a long time ..."
Chapter 14 "And the Dawns Here Are Quiet ..."
Realizing that she is dying, Rita tells Vaskov about her son Albert and asks to take care of him. The sergeant major shares with Osyanina his first doubts: was it worth protecting the canal and the road at the cost of the death of the girls, who had their whole lives ahead of them? But Rita believes that Motherland does not begin with channels. Not from there at all. And we defended her. First her, and only then the channel.
Vaskov went to meet the enemies. Hearing the faint sound of a shot, he returned. Rita shot herself, not wanting to suffer and be a burden.
Having buried Zhenya and Rita, exhausted, Vaskov wandered forward to the abandoned skete. Bursting into the saboteurs, he killed one of them, took four prisoners. In delirium, the wounded Vaskov leads the saboteurs to his own, and, only realizing that he has reached, he loses consciousness.
Epilogue
From the letter of a tourist (it was written many years after the end of the war), resting on quiet lakes, we learn that the gray-haired old man without an arm and rocket captain Albert Fedotych who arrived there brought a marble slab. Together with the visitors, the tourist searches for the grave of the anti-aircraft gunners who once perished here. He notices how quiet the dawns are here ...
Events take place in 1942. Uyezd No. 171, due to damage to the railway track, ceased to be the center of hostilities - German attack aircraft flew here from time to time, but on the whole the service was quiet. Because of this, all the soldiers gradually began to drink moonshine, which were successfully chased by local women and went “on a visit” to the soldiers' women. Fedot Evgrafovich Vaskov, who was the commandant here, could not cope with drunkenness and debauchery, so he constantly wrote requests to replace soldiers. The soldiers were regularly changed, but the drinking continued. Once the command found a way out of this situation and sent Vaskov female soldiers, solving both problems in one fell swoop. Vaskov was very embarrassed about such subordinates.
He noted that they are much more educated than him - they graduated from grades 7-9, while he was only 4 (because a bear “broke” his father). Before the Finnish war, Vaskov got married and had a son, Igor. However, the wife did not wait for her husband - Vaskov through the court deprived his wife of parental rights and sent his son to be raised by his mother, the son did not live long - only a year, and then died. After that, Vaskov smiled only three times - to the general who presented the order, the doctor who took out the splinter and the owner of the house - for her quick wit.
Chapter 2
Rita Mushtakova met her future husband at a school ball - it was love at first sight. Her lover was a lieutenant of the Red Army, a border guard. After this evening, the young people corresponded for a long time, and then got married.
So Rita became Osyanina. Soon Rita gave birth to a son - Albert. A year later, when the war began, the girl sent her son to her parents, and she herself began to save the lives of other people's children. Her husband was killed early, but Rita found out about it almost a month later. In the evenings, Rita goes somewhere at night. Only Kiryanova and Chetvertak know about these campaigns, but they are silent - they think that Rita has a man who can melt her heart.
Chapter 3
Rita liked to come back from her nocturnal adventures. After the last patrol point, one could go without fear of being discovered - that was the most pleasant thing. The dawns here were quiet. Rita was walking barefoot and enjoying the morning, suddenly she saw a man on the road. Rita hid in the bushes, while another one approached the stranger - it was German intelligence.
The girl waited until the Germans left, and then ran to the unit. Rita woke up Vaskov and told him about the Germans. The command allowed Vaskov to make a reconnaissance of the area with a group of 5 people. They are Rita Osyanina, Zhenya Komelkova, Liza Brichkina, Galya Chetvertak and Sonya Gurvich.
Chapter 4
The path of the group was very difficult - the girls were very tired and barely dragged their feet. On the way, Vaskov notices other people's marks and this worries him very much - he worries if the Germans know the way directly through the swamps, which he learned back in Finnish, but then his fears dissipate - the traces go around the swamp. The path through the swamp became more difficult - Galya lost her boots in the bog. In the evening, the group reached the lake, which allowed a little rest.
Chapter 5
Vaskov with the soldiers takes up a position for observation. Fedot Evgrafych teaches girls how to make a fire without smoke. After lunch, everyone takes up their positions. In the morning they saw 16 Germans who passed by without noticing Vaskov and his group.
Chapter 6
Vaskov realizes that with the forces that he commands, he is not able to resist the Germans. Fedot Evgrafych is at a loss, he becomes afraid. Vaskov decides to send Liza Brichkina back for reinforcements. He once again reminds her of the road and tells her about the landmarks. Fedot Evgrafych understands that he needs to somehow detain the Germans, but does not know how to do it - the girls offer to pretend to be lumberjacks. The plan to transform into lumberjacks turns out to be successful - the Germans retreat, and Vaskov's group wins some time.
Chapter 7
Liza Brichkina's life has always been difficult. Her mother fell ill early - she stopped getting up, coughing fits completely tormented her. However, death was in no hurry to alleviate the woman's fate - all this time Lisa patiently looked after her mother, helped with the housework.
Once a young hunter from the city temporarily settled in with them. Lisa imperceptibly fell in love and expected this feeling to be mutual, but this did not happen.
From the hunter, Liza was left with only a note promising to help her enter the technical school. After the death of her mother, her father started drinking heavily, and Lisa was looking forward to August. However, it did not work to go to training - the war made its own adjustments, and Liza had to dig trenches.
We suggest that you familiarize yourself with which Boris Vasiliev wrote.
Liza was in a hurry to return to the division - she steadfastly crossed the road and when she had almost passed the most difficult part of it, she was frightened of a bubble that jumped out of the swamp and stumbled. Liza drowned - at that moment the sun seemed to her unusually bright.
Chapter 8
Vaskov's detachment sang merrily, although there was nothing much to rejoice in - Vaskov knew that such a trick would frighten the Germans off for a while and therefore decided to go into reconnaissance, he took Rita as his assistants.
Vaskov decides to change the location of the detachment and sends Rita for the rest. Upon arrival, the girls notice that they forgot to take Vaskov's tobacco, which was dried on a stone. Sonya goes to get tobacco, ignoring Vaskov's ban. Soon Fedot Evgrafych heard a strange cry - Sonya was found mortally wounded.
Chapter 9
Vaskov and Zhenya are pursuing the Germans. Fedot Evgrafych determines that there were two attackers. Effortlessly, they track down the Germans. The first Vaskov kills without problems, with the second it did not work out - Vaskov was confused and found himself in a disadvantageous position - Zhenya comes to his aid and breaks the German's head with a rifle butt. After that, the girl cries, she is sick. Vaskov notes to himself that this is a natural reaction to the murder of a person. Sonya dies, the girl is buried. Vaskov takes off her shoes and orders Galya to put on shoes.
Chapter 10
Galya Chetvertak was a foundling - she knew nothing about her parents. From a very young age, the girl was distinguished by a rich imagination - she often came up with all sorts of fairy tales, but she did not do it out of malice - Galya really believed in them. So, for example, she came up with the idea that her mother was a doctor and firmly believed in this.
They did not want to take a quarter into the army - she did not fit in height and age - the girl starved the military commissar and went to the front.
Vaskov continues the pursuit with the group. When they find the Germans, Vaskov decides to attack - he throws a grenade, and the girls support the fire. Only one Galya was frightened.
Chapter 11
Vaskov from Chetvertak continue to pursue the Germans. This time Vaskov was not lucky - they found a whole group of Germans. Galya was very frightened and jumped out of hiding, destroying all of Vaskov's plans. Galya is killed, and Vaskov tries to take the Germans away from the rest of the group. In the morning he sees Brichkina's clothes in the swamp and realizes that Liza has drowned - “only her skirt is left of her.”
Chapter 12
Vaskov was very puzzled - he lost half of the group and lost ammunition. Vaskov with a revolver goes to an abandoned hermitage. He sees that the door of one hut has been opened. The Germans made a transshipment base there. Vaskov kills one of the Germans and takes his weapon. Then he finds Zhenya and Rita. The girls cry at the sight of him. Everyone commemorates the dead girls.
Chapter 13
Vaskov with the girls continues to detain the Germans. Vaskov's reserves are running out and this significantly complicates the task. He takes a new position with the group. Soon, a gunfight begins and Rita is wounded in the stomach by a grenade splinter. Zhenya decides that she should take the Germans aside, but it doesn't quite work out for her. As a result, she is injured. The girl shoots to the last. When she runs out of ammo, the Germans finish her off and take a long look at her beautiful but proud face.
Chapter 14
Rita realizes that her wound is fatal. When the shooting died down, the girl guessed that Zhenya had also died. She began to cry silently. Vaskov tried to support Rita. The girl said that at night she ran to the city to her three-year-old son, in the hope that Vaskov would not leave her son and help raise him.
The girl asks to kiss her, and Vaskov kisses her on the forehead. Then he covers Rita with branches and leaves. A few minutes later, Rita shoots herself in the temple. Vaskov buries her and Zhenya, and leaves to look for the Germans. He still has a revolver with one cartridge and a grenade without a fuse. Vaskov finds the Germans - kills the sentry with a knife, and then bursts into the hut - they were all asleep, except for one - Vaskov kills him with a revolver. The rest surrender to Vaskov out of surprise. Vaskov leads the bound Germans into distribution. When his strength is completely exhausted, he sees the approaching Red Army.
Epilogue
After the war, Fedot Evgrafych and Rita's son Albert come to the place of Rita's death, find her grave and erect a monument there.
The story "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", written by Boris Lvovich Vasiliev (years of his life - 1924-2013), was born for the first time in 1969. The work, according to the author himself, is based on a real military episode when, after being wounded, seven soldiers who served on the railway did not allow a German sabotage group to blow it up. After the battle, only one sergeant, the commander of Soviet soldiers, managed to survive. In this article we will analyze "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", we will describe a brief content of this story.
War is tears and grief, destruction and horror, madness and destruction of all living things. She brought trouble to everyone, knocking on every house: wives lost their husbands, mothers - sons, children were forced to be left without fathers. Many people went through it, experienced all these horrors, but they managed to withstand and win in the hardest of all wars that humanity has ever endured. Let us begin our analysis of "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" with a brief description of the 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 a severe concussion. Thus, this writer knew the war firsthand. Therefore, his best works are about her, about how a person manages to remain human only by fulfilling his duty to the end.
In the work "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", the content of which is war, it is felt especially sharply, since it is turned by an unusual facet 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 the Russian land: lakes, swamps. The enemy is hardy, strong, merciless, well-armed, many times outnumbering them.
Events unfold in May 1942. Depicted is a railway siding and its commander - Fyodor Evgrafych Vaskov, a 32-year-old man. The soldiers arrive here, but then they start walking and drinking. Therefore, Vaskov writes reports, and in the end they send him girls-anti-aircraft gunners under the command of Rita Osyanina, a widow (her husband died at the front). Then Zhenya Komelkova arrives, instead of the tray killed by the Germans. All five girls had their own character.
Five different characters: analysis
"The Dawns Here Are Quiet" is a work that describes interesting female characters. Sonya, Galya, Liza, Zhenya, Rita - five different, but in some ways very similar girls. Rita Osyanina is gentle and strong-willed, she is distinguished by her spiritual beauty. She is the most fearless, courageous, she is a mother. Zhenya Komelkova is white-skinned, red-haired, tall, with childish eyes, always funny, cheerful, mischievous to the point of adventurism, tired of pain, war and painful and long love for a married and distant person. Sonya Gurvich is an excellent student, a refined poetic nature, as if it came out of a book of poems by Alexander Blok. always knew how to wait, she knew that she was destined for life, and it was impossible to pass it. The latter, Galya, always lived more actively in an imaginary world than in a real one, therefore she was very afraid of this merciless terrible phenomenon, which is a war. "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" portrays this heroine as a funny, never matured, clumsy, childish orphanage girl. Escape from the orphanage, notes and dreams ... about long dresses, solo parts and universal worship. She wanted to become the new Lyubov Orlova.
The analysis "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" allows us to say that none of the girls was able to fulfill their desires, because they did not have time to live their lives.
Further development of events
The heroes of "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" fought for the Motherland like no one has ever fought anywhere. They hated the enemy with all their hearts. The girls always followed orders clearly, as young soldiers should. They experienced everything: losses, worries, tears. Their good friends were dying right in front of these fighters, but the girls held out. They stood to death until the very end, did not let anyone in, 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, as well as the life paths followed by the heroes of "The Dawns Here Are Quiet". 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, having gathered the rest of her strength, she shot herself in the temple. For Gali, death was as reckless and painful as she herself - the girl could hide and save her life, but she did not. It remains only to assume what drove her then. Perhaps just a moment's confusion, perhaps cowardice. Sonya's death was cruel. She could not even understand how the blade of the dagger pierced her cheerful young heart. Zhenya's is a little reckless, desperate. She believed in herself to the very end, even when she led the Germans away from Osyanina, never for a moment doubted 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 incredible, 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 sucked into a swamp. The author writes that until the last moment the heroine believed that "there will be tomorrow for her as well."
Sergeant Major Vaskov
Sergeant Major Vaskov, whom we have already mentioned in the summary "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", remains in the end alone in the midst of torment, misfortune, alone with death and three prisoners. But now he has five times more strength. What was in this human fighter, the best, but hidden deep in the soul, was revealed suddenly. He felt and experienced 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, and not die.
So, according to the plot, all the girls died. What led them when they went into battle, not sparing their own lives, defending their land? Perhaps just a duty to the Fatherland, its people, perhaps patriotism? Everything was confused at this moment.
Sergeant Major Vaskov ultimately blames himself, and not the fascists he hates. His words that he "laid down all five" are perceived as a tragic requiem.
Conclusion
Reading the work "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", you involuntarily become an observer of the everyday life of anti-aircraft gunners at a bombed-out crossing in Karelia. This story is based on an episode that is insignificant on the huge scale of the Great Patriotic War, but it is told about it in such a way that all its horrors arise before our eyes in all their ugly, terrible inconsistency with the essence of man. It is emphasized both by the fact that the work is called "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" and by the fact that its heroes are girls forced to take part in the war.
