Summary of the story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”

About the product

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 in 1969. The story of five female anti-aircraft gunners and a sergeant major who entered into battle with sixteen German saboteurs. On the pages of the story, the author conducts a conversation with the reader about the unnaturalness of war, about personality in war, about the strength of the human spirit.

The main theme of the story is a woman at war, “the mercilessness of war.” This topic was not raised in literature about the war before the appearance of Vasiliev’s story. To understand the events of the story, you can read the summary of “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” chapter by chapter on our website.

The material was prepared jointly with a teacher of the highest category, Ilyina Galina Sergeevna.

Experience as a teacher of Russian language and literature - 36 years.

Book information

Main characters

• Vaskov Fedot Evgrafych - 32 years old, sergeant major, commandant of the patrol where the female anti-aircraft gunners are assigned to serve.
• 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 premonition of dazzling happiness.”
• Gurvich Sonya is a girl from an intelligent “very large and very friendly family” of a Minsk doctor. After studying for a year at Moscow University, she went to the front. Loves theater and poetry.
• Evgeniya Komelkova – 19 years old, “her character was cheerful and smiling.” Zhenya has her own score to settle with the Germans: her family was shot.
• Osyanina Margarita was the first of her class to get married, and a year later she gave birth to a son. The husband, a border guard, died on the second day of the war. Leaving the child with her mother, Rita went to the front.
• Chetvertak Galina is an orphanage student and a dreamer. She lived in a world of her own fantasies and went to the front with the conviction that war is romance.

...And the dawns here are quiet

“I need to show that they kill not just people, but women, beautiful and young, who should give birth and continue the family line,” this is how Stanislav Rostotsky outlined his goal. The director, who himself went through the war, claimed that he was prompted to film this story by the memories of the nurse who once carried him from the battlefield.

Five young anti-aircraft gunners and their commander, Sergeant Major Fedot Vaskov (Andrei Martynov), learn that a detachment of German saboteurs is operating in the forest next to their unit; their possible target is the Kirov Railway. Having gone on reconnaissance, the soldiers discover that the Germans outnumber them several times.

The participation of women in the Great Patriotic War was not advertised for a long time, but was not kept silent either. As researcher Olga Nikonova writes, the film “...And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” contributed to the creation of a kind of “women’s memorial” in culture:

“For almost two “Brezhnev” decades, Soviet cinema was replenished with many films of different genres, in which the theme of women in the war was central or developed in parallel with the main one (“Zhenya, Zhenechka and Katyusha” (1967), “Die Hard” (1968) , “Song of Manshuk” (1969), “Belorussky Station” (1970), “...And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” (1972), “In the Sky “Night Witches” (1981), etc.). Even under Soviet censorship, these films left room for an informal, female perspective on the war. Thanks to the popularity of cinema, this view was gradually “woven” into the fabric of the collective Soviet memory of the Great Patriotic War. In the 1980s, Svetlana Alexievich began work on a book of women's memories of the war, which was destined to become the first pre-perestroika representation of alternative memory. In subsequent years, a number of performances were staged based on Alexievich’s book, the first of which was directed by Anatoly Efros at the Taganka Theater in 1985. And recently - in 2004 - the book was republished “without cuts.”

The fate of the tape was difficult. The author of the story, Boris Vasiliev, did not like the concept of the film; later, some episodes were cut from the director's version. After the premiere, critics blamed Stanislav Rostotsky for the “mosaic” nature of the narrative: in particular, not everyone understood the meaning of the scenes showing the life of the heroes before the war, given in contrast to the “black and white” military life. And during the filming process, the most painful of all the episodes in the film turned out to be the episode in the bathhouse. Not only did the cinematic authorities then try to cut him out; The actresses, for most of whom participation in the filming was their first work on the big screen, flatly refused to appear naked. With great difficulty, Rostotsky managed to convince them.

Thank you to the literary Internet project “Magazine Hall” for the material provided.

Other characters

• Kiryanova is a sergeant, deputy platoon commander of female anti-aircraft gunners.

And we also have:

for the most impatient -

A very brief summary of “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”

for the most sociable -

The main characters of “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”

for the most curious -

Analysis “And the dawns here are quiet” Vasiliev

Summary

Chapter 1

In May 1942, at 171 railway sidings, which found themselves in the midst of military operations going on around them, several yards survived. The Germans stopped bombing. In case of a raid, the command left two anti-aircraft installations.

Life on the patrol was quiet and calm, the anti-aircraft gunners could not stand the temptation of female attention and moonshine, and according to the report of the commandant of the patrol, Sergeant Major Vaskov, one half-platoon, “swollen with fun” and drunkenness, was replaced by the next... Vaskov asked to send non-drinkers.

The “teetotal” anti-aircraft gunners arrived. The fighters turned out to be very young, and they were... girls.

It became calm at the crossing. The girls made fun of the foreman, Vaskov felt awkward in the presence of “learned” soldiers: he only had a 4th grade education. The main concern was the internal “disorder” of the girls - they did everything not “according to the rules.”

Chapter 2

Having lost her husband, Rita Osyanina, the commander of a squad of anti-aircraft gunners, became stern and withdrawn. Once they killed a serving girl, and instead of her they sent the beautiful Zhenya Komelkova, in front of whose eyes the Germans shot her loved ones. Despite the tragedy she experienced, Zhenya is open and mischievous. Rita and Zhenya became friends, and Rita “thawed out.”

Their friend becomes the “runaway” Galya Chetvertak.

Hearing about the possibility of transferring from the front line to a patrol, Rita perks up: it turns out that she has a son next to the patrol in the city. At night, Rita runs to visit him.

Chapter 3

Returning from an unauthorized absence through the forest, Osyanina discovers two strangers in camouflage robes with weapons and bags in their hands. She hurries to tell the patrol commandant about this. After listening carefully to Rita, the sergeant major understands that she has encountered German saboteurs moving towards the railway, and decides to go to intercept the enemy. 5 female anti-aircraft gunners have been allocated to Vaskov. Worried about them, the foreman tries to prepare his “guard” for the meeting with the Germans and cheer them up, jokes, “so that they laugh, so that cheerfulness appears.”

Rita Osyanina, Zhenya Komelkova, Lisa Brichkina, Galya Chetvertak and Sonya Gurvich with the senior group Vaskov take 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, to the lake (only Galya Chetvertak loses her boot in the swamp). It’s quiet here, “like in a dream.” “Before the war, these regions were not very populated, but now they have become completely wild, as if lumberjacks, hunters, and fishermen had gone to the front.”

Chapter 5

Expecting to quickly deal with the two saboteurs, Vaskov still chooses a retreat path “to be on the safe side.” While waiting for the Germans, the girls had lunch, the foreman gave a combat 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 the next morning: “gray-green figures with machine guns at the ready kept coming out of the depths,” and it turned out there were not two of them, but sixteen.

Chapter 6

Realizing that “five funny girls and five clips for a rifle” cannot cope with the Nazis, Vaskov sends the “forest man” Lisa Brichkina on a patrol to report that reinforcements are needed.

Trying to scare off the Germans and force them to go around, Vaskov and the girls pretend that lumberjacks are working in the forest. They call to each other loudly, fires are lit, the foreman is cutting down trees, and the desperate Zhenya even bathes in the river in full view of the saboteurs.

The Germans left, and everyone laughed “to the point of tears, to the point of exhaustion,” thinking that the worst was over...

Chapter 7

Lisa “flew through the forest as if on wings,” thinking about Vaskov, and missed a noticeable pine tree, near which she needed to turn. Moving with difficulty in the swamp slurry, I stumbled and lost the path. Feeling the quagmire swallow her up, she saw sunlight for the last time.

Chapter 8

Vaskov, realizing that the enemy, although he has disappeared, can attack the detachment at any moment, goes with Rita on reconnaissance. Having found out that the Germans stopped for a rest, the foreman decides to change the location of the group and sends Osyanina to fetch the girls. Vaskov is upset when he discovers 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 some time, he hears “a distant, weak voice, like a sigh, an almost silent cry.” Guessing what this sound could mean, Fedot Evgrafych calls Zhenya Komelkova with him and goes to his previous position. Together they find Sonya, killed by her enemies.

Chapter 9

Vaskov furiously pursued the saboteurs to avenge Sonya's death. Having quietly approached the “Krauts” walking without fear, the foreman kills the first, but does not have enough strength for the second. Zhenya saves Vaskov from death by killing the German with a rifle butt. Fedot Evgrafych “was full of sadness, full to the very throat” because of the death of Sonya. But, understanding the state of Zhenya, who is painfully enduring the murder she committed, she explains that the enemies themselves violated human laws and therefore she needs to understand: “these are not people, not people, 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 walking straight at them. Having started a counter battle, the girls and the commander forced the saboteurs to retreat, only Galya Chetvertak threw her rifle away 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 as inexperience and confusion.

Vaskov goes on reconnaissance and takes Galya with him for educational purposes.

Chapter 11

Galya Chetvertak followed Vaskov. She, who always lived in her own fantasy world, was broken by the horror of a real war at the sight of the murdered Sonya.

The scouts saw the corpses: the wounded were finished off by their own people. There were 12 saboteurs left.

Hiding in ambush with Galya, Vaskov is ready to shoot the marching Germans. Suddenly, the clueless Galya Chetvertak rushed across the enemies and was hit by a machine gun fire.

The foreman decided to take the saboteurs as far as possible from Rita and Zhenya. Until nightfall, he rushed between the trees, made noise, briefly shot at the flickering figures of the enemy, shouted, dragging the Germans with him closer and closer to the swamps. Wounded in the arm, he hides in the swamp.

At dawn, having climbed out of the swamp onto the ground, the sergeant-major saw Brichkina’s army skirt, blackened on the surface of the swamp, tied to a pole, and realized that Liza had died in the quagmire.

There was no hope of help now...

Chapter 12

With heavy thoughts that “he lost his entire 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 turns out to be a German shelter. He watches them hide explosives and go on reconnaissance. Vaskov kills one of the enemies remaining in the monastery and takes the weapon.

On the bank of the river, where yesterday “they staged a show for the Fritz,” the foreman and the girls meet - with joy, like family. The foreman says that Galya and Lisa died the death of the brave, and that all of them will have to take on their last, apparently, battle.

Chapter 13

The Germans came ashore and the battle began. “Vaskov knew one thing in this battle: not to retreat. Don’t give the Germans a single piece of land on this shore. No matter how hard it is, no matter how hopeless it is, to hold on.” 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 seriously wounded in the stomach by a grenade fragment.

Firing back, Komelkova tried to lead the Germans behind 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 nineteen years old! She shot while she had ammo and strength. “The Germans finished her off 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 him to take care of him. The foreman shares with Osyanina his first doubt: 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 “The Motherland does not begin with canals. Not from there at all. And we protected her. First her, and only then the channel.”

Vaskov headed towards 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 monastery. Having broken into the saboteurs, he killed one of them and captured four. In delirium, the wounded Vaskov leads the saboteurs to his own and, only realizing that he has arrived, loses consciousness.

Epilogue

From a letter from a tourist (written many years after the end of the war), vacationing on quiet lakes, where there is “complete carlessness and desolation,” we learn that a gray-haired old man without an arm and rocket captain Albert Fedotich who arrived there brought a marble slab. Together with the visitors, the tourist is looking for the grave of the anti-aircraft gunners who once died here. He notices how quiet the dawns are here...

Summary of “And the dawns here are quiet...”

Main characters:

Fedot Evgrafovich Vaskov (military unit foreman), Rita Osyanina (junior sergeant), Zhenya Komelkova, Lisa Brichkina, Sonya Gurvich, Galya Chetvertak - ordinary soldiers

Minor characters:

the owner of the apartment where Vaskov lived

Author:

Vasiliev B.L.
| Publication date:
1969 |
Work form:
story |
Genre:
military |
Time of events:
second half of the 20th century |
Location:
Russia |
At school:
11th grade |
Age:
adults |
Reading time:
1-3 hours |

Screen adaptation:

film (Russia, 2015, dir. Renat Davletyarov)

Themes:

war and peace, heroism, friendship, life and death, love, motherhood, revenge and generosity, mercy and cruelty, patriotism, self-sacrifice, courage and cowardice, the meaning of life

Chapter 1

Still from the film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet.” 1985

Events took place in the rear. Passage No. 171 was no longer the center of military operations, the railroad bed was destroyed, there were houses around that had survived the bombing, but, just in case, there were still several anti-aircraft installations there. If compared with other sections of the front, this place could be called a resort; the soldiers were constantly tipsy and diluted their leisure time with visits to local women.

The commandant of the patrol was Sergeant Major Fedot Evgrafych Vaskov, who regularly filed reports on the anti-aircraft gunners. The composition changed after that, but soon the situation repeated itself. Finally, they decided to send a team of “non-drinking” and “non-partying” anti-aircraft gunner girls on the road. Vaskov was uncomfortable commanding the female staff, who were not only cocky, but also more educated than their boss.

Chapter 2

Still from the series “The Dawns Here Are Quiet.” 2015

Rita Osyanina, appointed commander of the first platoon, was a strict and reserved girl. This is how the death of her beloved husband influenced her character. Deciding to avenge him, she came to the border, not far from the places where he was killed. Having learned that they would serve at the 171st crossing, Rita was happy because her mother and little son lived near this place.

The red-haired mischievous beauty Zhenya Komelkova also suffered a personal tragedy. Her entire family was shot before her eyes. Despite the difference in characters, the girls were able to make friends and accepted the shy Galya Chetvertak into their small company. With the support of her friends, Rita regularly ran away at night to visit her son and mother.

Chapter 3

One day before dawn, Rita was returning from her mother’s and saw two German armed soldiers. She reported this to Fedot Evgrafych, who immediately realized that these were saboteurs who had been brought here with the aim of blowing up the railway junction.

After he reported this to the command, they were ordered to examine the forest. The group for this task included five girls: Rita Osyanina, Elizaveta Brichkina, Galina Chetvertak, Evgenia Komelkova, translator from German Sonya Gurvich. The conditioned signal in case of an unforeseen situation or danger was the quack of a drake.

Chapter 4

Still from the series “The Dawns Here Are Quiet.” 2015

It was possible to get to the lake, located in the forest, only through a swamp. The detachment walked for several hours, waist-deep in viscous swamp slurry. In addition to all the inconveniences, Gala Chetvertak had to experience one more thing - she lost her boot and footcloth in the swamp, and walked the rest of the way barefoot on one foot.

On the shore, the team decided to take a break to have a snack and dry their things. For Gali, Vaskov made a kind of bast shoe from birch bark. We reached the designated point in the evening and began to prepare for the ambush.

Chapter 5

Vaskov was not worried about the two Germans, whom he believed they would easily take from the position he had identified. At the same time, not excluding unforeseen events, he took care of the retreat.

At night, everyone slept peacefully, except for the sick Gali Chetvertak, who caught a cold while crossing the cold swamp. In the morning, it became clear to the group that Vaskov had miscalculated, and the Germans, whom they counted as sixteen people, moved towards the Sinyukhin ridge.

Chapter 6

Fedot had no choice but to send Brichkina for reinforcements. His choice fell on her because she grew up in the village and knew the terrain well.

In order to delay the Germans at least a little, Fedot and the girls began to portray a group of lumberjacks. Vaskov worked with an ax, and the girls laughed, joked, and flirted with Fedot. When the Germans were already very close, Zhenya ran into the water and began to swim, so as not to arouse suspicion among the German intelligence officers. The plan conceived by Vaskov was a success. The German group moved around, and Fedot’s team had another whole day in reserve.

Still from the television series “The Dawns Here Are Quiet...” Russia, 2015. Vaskov - actor Pyotr Fedorov

Chapter 7

Lisa was in such a hurry to get help that she forgot about Vaskov’s warning to stop on a small island in the center of the swamp. At the very end of the path, she was very frightened by a huge bubble that appeared almost in front of her and broke the ringing silence of the quagmire.

Lisa instinctively pulled back, and the support disappeared from under her feet. The long stick she was leaning on could not stand it and broke. The girl began to sink into the icy swamp slurry. The rays of the sun that illuminated the sky were the last thing she saw in her life.

Chapter 8

Still from the film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet.” 1985

In order to more accurately determine the route of advance of the enemy detachment, Vaskov and Rita decided to explore the area. Soon they saw a halt; twelve people were sitting around the fire, drying clothes. They did not see the other four fascists.

It was decided to change the location. Rita went to fetch the remaining girls, and Vaskov reminded her not to forget to take his pouch with her. It soon turned out that the pouch had been forgotten, and Sonya ran back without permission to bring Vaskov something memorable for him.

After a short time, a scream reached Vaskov’s ears, to which he and Zhenya rushed. Sonya was killed. On her tunic, near her heart, they found traces of two stab wounds.

Chapter 9

Having covered Sonya, Vaskov and Komelkova decide to catch up with the Germans before they inform their people about the incident. Fedot, overcome with rage, destroyed the first fascist immediately. The second one was stunned by Zhenya’s rifle butt, and the commander helped her finish what she started.

Vaskov found his pouch with one of the fascists. Sonya was buried, trying to maintain all military honors.

Chapter 10

Still from the film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet.” 1985

In the forest, Vaskov and the girls unexpectedly encountered the Germans. The commander instantly got his bearings and, without hesitation, threw a grenade. A shootout ensued. After some time, the opponents began to retreat.

Galya Chetvertak could not be called a brave girl, so she, alone, did not take part in the shootout. After the fight, the girls began to condemn her, but Vaskov decided otherwise. Perplexed as to why help had not come for so long, he decided to go on reconnaissance and take Galya with him, thereby rehabilitating her in the eyes of her friends.

Chapter 11

They soon came across two dead bodies. It was the Germans who finished off their own wounded soldiers. The twelve remaining Germans combed the forest, and soon some of them came almost close to Vaskov and Gala.

Having hidden Galya in the bushes, Fedot found shelter between the stones. But the girl’s nerves could not stand it, and she ran screaming straight towards the Nazis. Vaskov heard machine gun fire and realized that Gali was no longer there. He himself decided to take the Germans as far as possible from the two surviving girls and headed towards the swamp.

While leading the Nazis away, Fedot was wounded in the arm. When dawn broke, he saw Liza’s things and realized that he now had nowhere to wait for help.

Chapter 12

Still from the film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet.” 1985

Overwhelmed by guilt, he decided to find the remaining Germans. Trying to unravel their plans, he came across the Legont monastery, and saw twelve fascist soldiers carrying ammunition and explosives into the hut.

On the shore, in the place where the scene with the lumberjacks was played out, he met Zhenya and Rita. The girls greeted the foreman as if they were their own. The trials they faced forced them to have a different attitude towards front-line friendship. Having rested a little, they began to prepare for the final battle with the Nazis.

Chapter 13

Three Soviet soldiers held the defense as if all of Russia was behind them. Given the inequality of forces, the enemy still managed to move to the opposite bank. In this battle, Rita Osyanina was seriously wounded.

To take the Germans away from the commander and Rita, Zhenya began to go deeper into the forest. She fired back even after she was wounded in the side. Leaning on the stones, the girl fired all the cartridges at the enemy, after which, almost point-blank, she was hit by a machine gun burst.

Chapter 14

Still from the film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet.” 1985

Having disguised Rita with branches, Vaskov went to help Zhenya. He left a revolver loaded with two cartridges for Rita. Anticipating her imminent death, Rita asked Fedot not to leave her son, admitting to him that she was returning from him that morning when she discovered the Germans.

Vaskov reassured her, promising that he would do everything she asked. Not even two steps from the hiding place, he heard a shot. Rita committed suicide.

Fedot Evgrafych buried both girls. Now the pain in his hand was drowned out by only one feeling - revenge on the Nazis. Approaching the monastery, he killed the sentry and burst inside. At that moment he was truly scary. Shouting curses, he brought out the fascists and, in a bunch, at gunpoint, led them towards his own.

His strength almost left him when he saw Soviet soldiers. Only then did he lose consciousness.

Epilogue

The war is long over. Two men - one gray-haired, the other young - approach the monument. Fedot Evgrafych fulfilled his promise to Rita. Now the son can visit the grave of his mother, who gave her life together with four friends for a calm sky over the Motherland.

Irina Zaritskaya | | Estimate: