“We fell for our homeland, but it was saved.” Based on the work of B. Vasiliev “And the dawns here are quiet.” The image and characteristics of Galya Chetvertak in the story and the dawns here are quiet Vasilyeva's essay And the dawns here are quiet description of Galya Chetvertak

The story “The Dawns Here Are Quiet...” gave Soviet literature and cinema five subtle sensual female images. Absolutely different, touching and lively heroines are described. Characters and their characteristics are very important to the narrative. Five life stories, united by terrible military battles, ended at the front. The tragedy of each girl and the great grief for the country, which lost hundreds of thousands of people, are depicted in the work, which was later filmed.

History of creation

The story was written and published in 1969. The plot of “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet...” is based on real events. The author learned the story of the feat of seven soldiers who resisted German saboteurs. The military defended a strategically important zone on the Kirov railway track at the cost of their lives. Only the sergeant survived. The fate of the soldiers inspired Boris Vasiliev. While working on the work, the author realized that daily feat committed by both men and women during the war, and made the latter the main characters.

Write about the role of women in war time in those years it was not accepted. Their fates remained in the shadow of men - defenders and heroes. Vasiliev's work became a discovery in Soviet post-war literature and stood out against the backdrop of writings about the war. The writer, commenting on his essay, said that it is important to highlight the initiative Soviet man, who stood up to defend his homeland not by order, but by at will. If he were describing the behavior of men, it would be typical. But it was more difficult for women, and they heroic deeds no one bothered to describe it.

The main characters of the story "The Dawns Here Are Quiet..."

The heroines of the work were Sonya Gurvich, Galya Chetvertak, and. The story served as material for film adaptations. It was used by domestic directors and representatives of foreign cinema. Films with similar plots appeared in India and China.

“And the dawns here are quiet...”

In the story “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet...” five female characters are described - girls of different origins, representatives of different types. Their biographies differ, but the heroines are united by dreaminess, femininity, sensitivity, and a keen perception of reality.

Galya Chetvertak was the youngest representative of the squad. She was about 17-18 years old. The miniature girl came from an orphanage. The meaning of her surname, invented by the shelter workers, is fully justified by her appearance. As a child, Galya was left in the care of the state without any care future fate babies. Being a foundling, she never stopped believing in miracles. A rich imagination helped the girl avoid harsh reality.

They decided to channel their talent for telling invented stories and inventing fables in a peaceful direction by sending Galya to study at a library technical school. Before the war, the girl studied. As a third-year student, she received a call to the front. At first they didn’t want to hire Galya because vertically challenged and a miniature build, but the girl’s desperation helped her to be accepted as an anti-aircraft gunner. She wanted to attract attention and distinguish herself, so cowardice was out of the question. She dreamed of public recognition. IN Peaceful time I would like to do solo career, and in war she must become a hero.

Still from the film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” (2015)

When Galya went to the front, she realized that war is not a romantic adventure, but a risk that brings death, a struggle for survival and constant tests of character. In the detachment, she had to strictly follow the instructions of her superiors and carry out the orders given out. But even here the girl did not forget about her passion for writing. She easily made up a story about herself, which featured a nurse mother, the one she dreamed of. Those around her quickly realized that the girl was not always truthful, but she did not want to deceive her colleagues. She simply dreamed of a better fate and lived in a world that she herself invented and contrasted with the harsh realities of war.

Frightening circumstances allowed Gali's resilience to be tested. The young girl was not one of the brave ones, so they were in no hurry to go with her to complete the task. The girls understood that Galya would be the weak link in the operation and would accidentally set her up. The girl's absent-mindedness and timidity lead to her death. This event shows that not everyone is ready for war. No matter how courage people show in life, no matter how strong they may seem to themselves in their dreams, in conditions of impending danger, daydreaming and fantasies are inappropriate.

Last minutes life of Gali Chetvertak

Fear broke Galya. The fact that her friend Sonya Gurvich died affected her and filled her with horror. Fear and awareness that she was facing such a death disoriented the girl. Galya lost her vigilance and in a deadly shootout with the Nazis, trying to escape from danger, she came under open fire from enemy guns. The dreamy girl was crushed by the cruel machine of war, which does not spare the weak and romantics.

Film adaptations

The first film incarnation of the story became legendary, capturing the performers of the roles in the images of their heroines on long years. Today it is difficult for viewers to imagine other artists in the roles of young Soviet anti-aircraft gunners. In the film, released in 1972, the role of Gali Chetvertak was played.

Inspired by the work, foreign film directors created works based on it. In collaboration with the Russian side, Chinese director Mao Weining filmed a 12-episode series “The Dawns Here Are Quiet...” in 2005. Alexandra Teryaeva was invited to play the role of Gali Chetvertak.

Indian director S.P. Jananathan directed an action-adventure film based on Vasiliev's story. The film entitled “Valor” was released in 2009.

He again raised the topic of female heroism in war in 2015, creating the film “” based on the first film adaptation literary work. The actress played Galya Chetvertak in this project. The director was criticized for his superficial interpretation of the work and erotic scenes depicting the heroines in the bathhouse.

What happened to the actresses from movie, And the Dawns It's quiet here...

What is happening now in the lives of the actors from this beloved film.
They say, "war has no woman's face" But in the Great Patriotic War it was women who became main support to our defenders, which was described with piercing sincerity in his film “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet...” based on the story of the same name by front-line soldier Boris Vasiliev, director Stanislav Rostotsky.

In May, exactly 40 years ago, Rostotsky managed to get his script for a future film through to the film studio and received the go-ahead to start working on the film.

We decided to remember this folk cinema on the eve of Victory Day. We congratulated the leading actors on the holiday and asked about the filming and their lives today.

Dedicated the film to the savior.

Stanislav Rostotsky said that the painting is a dedication to Russian women and personal gratitude to Anna Chegunova (Beketova), who carried the bleeding cavalryman Rostotsky out of the battle. Anna reached Berlin. Then she gave birth to two children, but soon became blind due to the consequences of her injuries. Rostotsky recalled:
- I brought Anna to the studio and told everything that happened on the screen, and she cried... I treat a woman in war as a heroine. main idea film - in the central phrase: “Nothing significant happened on such and such a front...” We heard this on the radio more than once. In my painting the phrase is used to say: “Maybe nothing significant happened, but beautiful people died.”

The masters who created this legendary film- Rostotsky himself, chief cameraman Vyacheslav Shumsky, main artist Sergei Serebrennikov, make-up artist Alexey Smirnov, assistant costume designer Valentina Galkina, director Grigory Rimalis - went through the war and knew how to make the material authentic. Unfortunately, of them only Vyacheslav Shumsky is alive today.
“They all were in the thick of it, and Valentina Galkina carried the wounded from the battlefield under fire. They knew all the subtleties and nuances,” the film’s set designer Evgeniy Shtapenko told KP. - None of the spectators will even notice what kind of soles the boots of the German landing force have, but together with a specialist I screwed hex spikes into the soles so that everything would be natural.

Vyacheslav Tikhonov auditioned for Vaskov (photo below left), and Andrei Martynov played. Today he (photo above left) works in dubbing. Elena Drapeko became Lisa Brichkina. Now she (pictured on the right) has left actresses for big politics.
Photo: ITAR-TASS

Tikhonov could play the foreman.

Stanislav Rostotsky planned for the role of foreman Fedot Vaskov one of star actors, and unknown actresses played the roles of girls. The first to try were Vyacheslav Tikhonov and Georgy Yumatov. Tikhonov was Rostotsky’s favorite actor, and Boris Vasiliev chose the front-line soldier Yumatov. But after the screen tests, Rostotsky continued the search for actors. The next candidates were Yuri Oskin from the Komissarzhevskaya Theater and Vitaly Shapovalov from Taganka, who played Vaskov on the Taganka stage. But in the end, the hero-foreman was played by 26-year-old actor of the Moscow Youth Theater Andrei Martynov. Rostotsky’s second director, Zoya Kurdyumova, was looking for female contenders all over the country.

Vyacheslav Tikhonov.

Georgy Yumatov

Andrey Martynov

Elena Drapeko (Lisa Brichkina)

About heroin.

I wanted to get the role of Zhenka Komelkova. Me and Zhenya common features character, but Rostotsky convinced Brichkina to play the calm village Liza. Lisa and I are not much alike, and that’s why we had to change. I "did" it for her Vologda dialect. Ostroumova and I were “beautified” every morning for two hours. Olka had her hair dyed red and made up to look like Greta Garbo. And make-up artist Alexey Smirnov pasted on a hundred freckles for me, so that they “sat” in the same place.

What now.
Today, Honored Artist of the RSFSR Elena Drapeko is a candidate of sociological sciences and a State Duma deputy from A Just Russia. Will be shown at the Moscow Film Festival New film with the participation of Drapeko “Death in a pince-nez, or Our Chekhov.” She devotes her free time to growing flowers in her country house in the Leningrad region and travel - she set the goal of introducing residents of third world countries to the work of Alexander Pushkin. In the homeland of Pushkin’s great-grandfather Ibrahim Hannibal in Eritrea (East Africa), Elena and like-minded people erected a monument to the Russian poet with their own money, and on May 23 will open a monument to Nicholas Roerich in India.
Elena's first husband died, and a daughter, Anastasia, was born in marriage with her second. Today Anastasia is a producer of Mayak radio and also produces Polina Gagarina, who won at Star Factory-2.

Elena Drapeko

Irina Dolganova (Sonya Gurvich)

About heroin.

The actress admits that she suffered a lot during filming. Her Sonya's boots are two sizes too big - and it ultimately costs her her life.
- I suffered with these boots, constantly losing them on the go. I couldn’t think of anything: double foot wraps, and newspapers for the tops. Once she begged: “Stanislav Iosifovich, the boots won’t be visible on the screen!” Can I change them, otherwise I don’t have the strength anymore?” To which he answered philosophically: “What about a reliable embodiment of the image?”

Irina almost missed her star role. Returning to Saratov, she did not leave her address at the film studio. A month later, the rector of the school, grabbing her hand, said: “Urgently go to Moscow!” It turns out that they called her many times, informing her that she had been approved for the role. But the head teacher hid this from her. Irina barely had time to play the scene at the skating rink with Kostolevsky - the snow in Moscow had already begun to melt.

Sonya Gurvich was played by Irina Dolganova. Now she (pictured on the right) is an actress of the Nizhny Novgorod Youth Theater.
Photo: Olga SHEMARULINA.

What now.

Irina had to make a choice between assignment to the theater and the offer from the Gorky Film Studio to stay in Moscow. Deciding that the theater was more reliable, she went to Gorky. A few years later, Stanislav Rostotsky, in whose house Irina stayed every time she came to Moscow, visited her in Gorky and again offered to move to the capital. But by that time Irina Valerievna was already married, raising her son and leaving hometown and I didn’t want the theater. She acted in films only a few times (including in the film “Mother” by Gleb Panfilov). Today, prima of the Nizhny Novgorod Youth Theater, Honored Artist of Russia Irina Dolganova is teaching acting in several children's groups and at the Nizhny Novgorod State University. Lobachevsky. She is also a well-known defender of homeless animals in the city, helping them find owners. Irina’s husband runs a business, and her son works as a doctor.

Irina Shevchuk (Rita Osyanina)

About heroin.

I penetrated the image of my heroine so much that I was already really living her life. When they were filming the scene of Rita’s death, the doctor spoke about the consequences of a shrapnel wound in the stomach from an exploding grenade. I imagined in such detail how I was suffocating and dying painfully that I lost consciousness in the frame! Everyone was scared.

Just during filming, Irina was going through a difficult breakup with her beloved man, the popular actor Talgat Nigmatullin, and life’s suffering further enhanced her performance...
- We had a long romance. Almost two years inseparable, and then only meetings and partings. I deliberately went for a break, but still it became a difficult experience for me.

Katya Gradova (pictured below left) auditioned for Rita Osyanina, and Irina Shevchuk played. Now Shevchuk (photo above left) is the general director of the Kinoshock film festival.

Ekaterina Gradova.

What now.
In the late 1970s, Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR Irina Shevchuk married composer Alexander Afanasyev. Today Irina Borisovna is the general director of the film festival of the CIS and Baltic countries “Kinoshok”, a member of the board of the Russian Film Actors Guild. Recently, on April 26, the premiere of her play “Lady Windermere's Fan” (based on the play by Oscar Wilde) took place at the Film Actor's Theater. She also writes poetry. The daughter of Alexander Afanasyev-Shevchuk worked on television in the “Crime” program, is now acting in films (she played Irina Somova in the TV series “Montecristo”), and is studying at VGIK.

Irina Shevchuk.

Olga Ostroumova (Zhenya Komelkova)

About heroin.

Ostroumova really wanted to film with Rostotsky. And she tried her best during the auditions. I asked Irina Shevchuk, with whom I was paired, to perform as well as possible at the auditions. She said:
- Let everything work out for us, I need to get Zhenya!

What now.

After the premiere, “The Dawn...” did not appear on screens for two years, and then invitations to the cinema rained down like from a cornucopia. Today Ostroumova is a People's Artist of Russia, the leading actress of the Theater. Mossovet. Now she is busy in rehearsals for the play “Me, Grandma, Iliko and Illarion” (based on the novel by Nodar Dumbadze, popular in the 1960s and 70s), which will premiere on May 13.
The daughter from her first marriage, Olga Levitina, graduated from the Russian Academy of Theater Arts (GITIS) and is involved in productions of the Hermitage Theater and the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop. She already has two children. Son Mikhail is studying to become a director. In 1996, Ostroumova married Valentin Gaft, about whom she says: “Life with Gaft is an absolute feat. When I need to be alone in the morning and get ready for the whole day, he suddenly starts reading poems that he wrote at five in the morning. You have to listen..."

Zhenya Komelkova was played by Olga Ostroumova. Now she (photo on the left) is the prima of the Theater. Mossovet.

Olga Ostroumova.

Ekaterina Markova (Galya Chetvertak)

About heroin.

“I really fell in love with my heroine, although I remember the filming with fear,” Markova admitted to “KP.”
In the film, her Galya runs out of the bushes shouting “Mom!” and gets shot in the back. Rostotsky wanted to take a close-up of the back with bullet holes. Holes were drilled in the board, containers with red liquid were attached, an electrical cord was attached and it was placed on Ekaterina Markova’s back. The electrical cord was shorted, the tunic burst from the inside, and from the outside it seemed as if blood was flowing. But the pyrotechnicians miscalculated - the tunic was torn to shreds. Fortunately, the actress was not injured.
And in real life Markova’s father miraculously survived the war. “Dad, a front-line correspondent, had to fly to the front line. But when the plane was already taxiing to the runway, the order was canceled, and dad received another task. And the plane was shot down a few minutes later. Whether you like it or not, you will believe in fate. If dad had died, I wouldn’t have been born.”

Galya Chetvertak was played by Ekaterirna Markova, who believes that she was lucky in family life- Happily married to my husband for 40 years (pictured on the right).
Photo: ITAR - TASS and Photoxpress

What now.

Markova became a playwright and writer. She is the author of ten books, and 5 films have been made based on her scripts. For the script of the film “Third in the Fifth Row” she was awarded at the International Television Festival in Prague. Her novel “The Mourner” was recently published. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the happy family union of actor Georgy Taratorkin and Ekaterina Markova. And they were introduced in a taxi by a common friend, actress Irina Korotkova.
- My husband is the best thing I have. “I found my happiness, I have a wonderful family,” Markova admitted to “KP.” - Son Philip is a historian, writing a doctoral dissertation, he has two sons. Daughter Anna Taratorkina works at RAMT and participates in performances at the Mossovet Theater. On May 9, the Rossiya channel will premiere the film Mortal Combat, where Anna plays sniper Olga.
And all these years, Ekaterina Markova has been friends with Andrei Martynov, who played Sergeant Major Vaskov.

Ekaterina Markova

“I found support and care in him,” Markova admitted to KP. - When my husband was still working at the Leningrad Youth Theater, and I lived in Moscow and also played in the theater, Andryusha came and told me: “Get some rest...” And then he walked with little Philip, fed him.

After the release of the film, Martynov was invited to play the role of Kiryan Inyutin in “Eternal Call”. Martynov worked in dubbing for many years; few people know that Marlon Brando speaks in his voice in “The Godfather.”
In 1975, in Germany, Martynov met literary critic Franziska Thun, who graduated from Moscow State University and is fluent in Russian. In the same 1975 they got married in Germany. But Franziska could not move to Moscow, and after a few years the marriage broke up. Their son Alexander is famous theater artist in Berlin.

About filming.

The actresses wanted to wash in the bathhouse in swimsuits.
***
Location shooting took place in Karelia on the shores of Syamozero. The film group lived in Petrozavodsk, and the “anti-aircraft gunners” and “Vaskov” lived in the village. For a whole month, the actresses got up at first light and, under the direction of the major, marched, learned to trump and shoot, crawled on their bellies, disassembled and cleaned rifles. The director put two or three bricks in their soldier’s backpacks with bread, a pot, and a mug to make it heavier.
We filmed in the forests, where there were a lot of ticks. Rostotsky insisted that all actresses get vaccinated. But he didn’t get vaccinated himself, and it was he who got the tick bite!
- The director was taken to the hospital, the tick turned out to be encephalitis. And Stanislav Iosifovich was then injected for 7 days in a row. Thank God I didn’t get sick! - said Markova.

When the time came to “drown” Lisa Brichkina in the swamp, actress Elena Drapeko was dressed in a wetsuit, because cold springs were coming from the bottom. But a layer of air remains in the wetsuit. And the girl was constantly being pushed out. Evgeny Shtapenko stood on the shore with a kettle and carefully washed off the mud from Elena’s face before each take. It looked so funny that the filming of the tragic scene took place amid friendly laughter. They filmed take after take, but the actress still “didn’t drown.” Then they used dynamite to make a crater in the swamp, but that didn’t help either. I had to part with my wetsuit, and in the first take they filmed the actress going under the water.
***

For the bathhouse scene, nudes were needed in the frame women's bodies. But for a long time we did not agree to undress. Then Rostotsky said: “Well, I don’t care! “I’ll recruit girls from the Model House, let them show off their beautiful bodies,” recalls Irina Dolganova. - But a week later he came to us again: “Understand, we must show that death has disfigured young bodies created for motherhood!” Then we set the condition: we rehearse only in swimsuits and that there is no one in the pavilion except the operator. Rostotsky gave commands from the remote control. Zhenya Shtapenko lay face down on the floor and let the couple in. When we flew into the frame, everyone tried to take a place so that she could be seen less. Katya Markova dove into a huge tub, and since she is a petite girl, only her knees and head were sticking out of the tub, and she also covered herself with a broom. Lenka Drapeko lay down on her stomach, and only her back was visible. When everyone took advantageous seats, I did a tricky thing - I sat with my back to the camera. And on close-up just my back. So only Olya Ostroumova remained naked.
***

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It tells the story of the fates of five female anti-aircraft gunners and their commander during the Second World War.

History of creation

According to the author, the story is based on a real episode during the war, when seven soldiers, after being wounded, serving at one of the junction stations of the Petrozavodsk-Murmansk railway, did not allow a German sabotage group to blow up railway in this area. After the battle, only the sergeant, the commander of a group of Soviet soldiers, survived, and after the war he was awarded the medal “For Military Merit.” “And I thought: this is it! A situation when a person himself, without any order, decides: I won’t let you in! They have nothing to do here! I started working on this plot and have already written about seven pages. And suddenly I realized that nothing would work. It'll just be special case at war. There was nothing fundamentally new in this plot. Work stopped. And then I suddenly came up with the idea - let my hero’s subordinates be not men, but young girls. And that’s it - the story immediately lined up. Women have the hardest time in war. There were 300 thousand of them at the front! And then no one wrote about them.”

Plot

Basic storyline The story is a reconnaissance campaign of the heroes of the work. It is during the campaign that the characters’ characters get to know each other, heroism and love feelings appear.

Characters

Fedot Vaskov

Fedot Vaskov has already been to Finnish war, and now protects the rear Soviet troops. He is the commandant of the patrol, to whom, after lengthy requests to send soldiers who don’t drink and don’t party, they sent very young girls who had barely crossed the school threshold.

Vaskov is the only survivor of his entire squad, but he lost his arm due to an infection in the wound he received.

There is no direct indication in the book that Vaskov serves in air defense. Anti-aircraft gunners were sent to the site to protect against air raids. During the Winter War, Vaskov was a scout.

Zhenya Komelkova

A very beautiful red-haired girl, the other heroines were amazed at her beauty. Tall, slender, with fair skin. When the Germans captured Zhenya’s village, an Estonian woman managed to hide Zhenya herself. In front of the girl's eyes, the Nazis shot her mother, sister and brother.

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 and then shot her at point-blank range.

In the film, the role of Komelkova was played by actress Olga Ostroumova.

Rita Osyanina

Rita Mushtakova was the first in her class to marry Lieutenant Osyanin, with whom she gave birth to a son, Igor. Rita's husband died during a counterattack on June 23, 1941.

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.

Lisa Brichkina

Liza Brichkina is a simple village girl who is under pressure from her father. At the same time, a hunter-traveler comes to their house, with whom Lisa falls in love. But not having mutual feelings for Lisa, and seeing at the same time the conditions in which the girl is growing up, he invites her to come to the capital and enroll in a technical school. But Lisa never managed to become a student - the war began.

Lisa drowned in a swamp while carrying out an assignment for Sergeant Major Vaskov, for whom she had loving feelings.

Galya Chetvertak

Galya grew up in orphanage. It was there that she received her nickname for her short stature.

During the battle with the Germans, Vaskov took Galya with him, but she could not stand it nervous tension from waiting for the Germans, she 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.”

Sonya Gurvich

Sonya Gurvich is a girl who grew up in a large Jewish family. She knew German and could have been a good translator, but there were many translators, so she was assigned to an anti-aircraft gunner (of which, 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.

Film adaptations

The story was filmed in 1972, 2005 and 2008:

• "" - film directed by Stanislav Rostotsky (USSR, 1972).
• “” - film directed by Mao Weining (China, Russia, 2005).
• “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” - television series (Russia, 2008).

Theater productions

In addition, the story was staged in the theater:

• “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” - performance at the Moscow Taganka Theater, directed by Yuri Lyubimov (USSR, 1971);
• “And the dawns here are quiet” - opera by Kirill Molchanov (USSR, 1973).
• “And the dawns here are quiet” - performance by the Volzhsky Drama Theater, director Alexander Grishin (Russia, 2007).
• “And the dawns here are quiet” - performance by Borisoglebsky drama theater them. N. G. Chernyshevsky (Russia, 2012).

Editions

• Boris Vasiliev, Karelia, 1975

• Boris Vasiliev, DOSAAF, Moscow, 1977

• Boris Vasiliev, Pravda, 1979

• Boris Vasiliev, Soviet writer. Moscow, 1977

• Boris Vasiliev, Daguchpedgiz, 1985

• Georgy Berezko, Boris Vasiliev, Truth , 1991

• Boris Vasiliev, 2010

• Boris Vasiliev, Eksmo, 2011

• Boris Vasiliev, Astrel, 2011

• Boris Vasiliev, AST, 2011

Characteristics of the hero Galya Chetvertak

Galya Chetvertak is one of the heroines of B. Vasiliev’s work “The Dawns Here Are Quiet,” a participant in the war who served at the 117th crossing. She was an orphan from an orphanage, who on the very first day of the war was sent as part of a group to the military commissar. She dreamed of participating in the war, but since she was not suitable, either in height or age, they did not want to take her. In the end, she was assigned to an anti-aircraft gunner. The girl was full of courage and heroic impulses, but the real world turned out to be much harsher and tougher than she thought. Her whole life

was now based on the strict implementation of military regulations.

She was frivolous by nature and confidently believed that war was not at all scary. She always wanted to stand out somehow, to be noticed. She was ready to invent any “fairy tale” just to attract attention. Galya did not have her own surname and the old caretaker, with whom she was very friendly, came up with her surname Chetvertak, since she was a quarter smaller than everyone else. In the detachment, Zhenya Komelkova affectionately called her Chetvertachok. The war overtook Galya when she was in her third year at library college. This life test, despite her persistence, she could not pass. Galya was killed during reconnaissance when she ran out from behind the bushes at the most decisive moment and screamed in fear. Before this, her friend in the squad, Sonya Gurvich, died, and this incident left an indelible mark on her soul.

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Well, why do that, why? - Zhenya said reproachfully and hugged Chetvertak. - We need to be without malice, otherwise we will become frantic. Like the Germans, we will go frantic...

Osyanina remained silent...

And Galya really was a foundling, and they even gave her a last name in the orphanage: Chetvertak. Because she was the shortest of all, a quarter smaller.

The orphanage was located in a former monastery; Fat, ashen woodlice fell from the echoing vaults. Poorly painted bearded faces looked out from the walls of numerous churches, hastily converted into household premises, and in the brethren’s cells it was as cold as in cellars.

At the age of ten, Galya became famous, causing a scandal that the monastery had not known since its foundation. Having gone about her children's business at night, she raised the whole house with a desperate squeal. The teachers, pulled out of her bed, found her on the floor in a dimly lit corridor, and Galya very sensibly explained that the bearded old man wanted to drag her into the dungeon.

A “case of attack…” was created, complicated by the fact that there was not a single bearded man in the area. Galya was patiently questioned by visiting investigators and homegrown Sherlock Holmeses, and from conversation to conversation the case acquired more and more new details. And only the old supply manager, with whom Galya was very friendly, because it was he who came up with such a sonorous surname, managed to figure out that it was all fiction.

Galya was teased and despised for a long time, but she took it and made up a fairy tale. True, the fairy tale was very similar to a boy's thumb, but, firstly, instead of a boy there was a girl, and secondly, it involved bearded old men and gloomy dungeons.

The glory passed as soon as everyone got tired of the fairy tale. Galya did not write a new one, but rumors spread around the orphanage about treasures buried by the monks. Treasure hunting engulfed the students with epidemic force, and in a short time the monastery courtyard turned into a sand quarry. Before the management had time to cope with this scourge, ghosts in flowing white robes began to appear from the basements. Many people saw ghosts, and the kids categorically refused to go out at night with all the ensuing consequences. The matter took on disaster proportions, and the educators were forced to launch a secret witch hunt. And the first witch caught red-handed in a government-issued sheet turned out to be Galya Chetvertak.

After that, Galya fell silent. She studied diligently, tinkered with the October students and even agreed to sing in the choir, although all her life she dreamed of solo roles, long dresses and universal worship. Here her first love overtook her, and since she was used to surrounding everything with mystery, soon the whole house was flooded with notes, letters, tears and dates. The instigator was again scolded and tried to get rid of her immediately, sending her to a library technical school for an increased scholarship.

The war found Galya in her third year, and on the very first Monday their entire group in full force came to the military registration and enlistment office. The group was taken, but Galya was not, because she did not meet army standards in either height or age. But Galya, without giving up, stubbornly stormed the military commissar and lied so shamelessly that the lieutenant colonel, stunned from insomnia, was completely confused and, as an exception, sent Galya to the anti-aircraft gunner.

A dream come true is always devoid of romance. Real world turned out to be harsh and cruel and demanded not a heroic impulse, but strict execution of military regulations. The festive novelty quickly disappeared, and everyday life was completely different from Galina’s ideas about the front. Galya was confused, sour and secretly cried at night. But then Zhenya appeared, and the world started spinning quickly and joyfully again.

But Galya simply could not help but lie. Actually, it was not a lie, but desires passed off as reality. And my mother was born - medical worker, the existence of which Galya almost believed herself.

We lost a lot of time, and Vaskov was very nervous. It was important to get out of here as quickly as possible, find the Germans, get on their tail, and then let the patrolmen find them. Then the foreman will hang over them, and not vice versa. Hanging, tugging, directing where needed, and... wait. Wait for our people to arrive, for the raid to begin.

But... they fiddled around: Sonya was buried, Chetvertak was persuaded - time passed. Fedot Evgrafych checked the machine guns, hid the extra rifles - Brichkina and Gurvich - in a secluded place, and divided the cartridges equally. I asked Osyanina:

When did you shoot from the machine gun?

Only from ours.

Well, keep the Fritz one. You will master it, I think. “He showed her how to handle it and warned her: “Don’t shoot too long: it lifts up.” Briefly sorry.

Let's get going, thank you... He walked in front, Chetvertak with Komelkova - the main core, and Osyanina brought up the rear. They walked cautiously, without making any noise, and again, apparently, they listened to themselves more, because miraculously they didn’t run into the Germans. Miraculously, like in a fairy tale.

It was fortunate that the foreman was the first to see them. As he poked his head around the boulder, he saw: two people pointing at him, followed by the rest. And if Fedot Evgrafych had been exactly seven steps late, their entire service would have ended there. It would have ended in two good queues.

But these seven steps were taken on his part, and therefore everything turned out the other way around. And he managed to pull back, wave at the girls to scatter, and grab a grenade from his pocket. Well, the grenade had a fuse: he threw it from behind a boulder, and when it exploded, he hit it with a machine gun.

In the regulations, such a fight is called a counter fight. And what is characteristic of it is that the enemy does not know your forces: you are intelligence or the main patrol - they do not understand this. And therefore the main thing here is not to let him come to his senses.

Fedot Evgrafych, of course, didn’t think about it. It was ingrained into him, ingrained in him for the rest of his life, and all he thought was that he had to shoot. And I also wondered where his fighters were: were they hiding, lying down, or running away?

The crash was deafening, because the Krauts were hitting his boulder with all their active machine guns. His face was cut into stone chips, his eyes were covered with dust, and he could hardly see anything: tears flowed in a stream. And there was no time to dry off.

The bolt of his machine gun clanged and jumped back: the cartridges had run out. Vaskov was afraid of this moment: it took seconds to reload, but now these seconds were measured by life. The Germans will rush towards the silent machine gun, rush past the ten meters that separated them, and that’s it. Hana.

But the saboteurs didn’t show up. They didn’t even raise their heads because they were pinned down by the second machine gun – Osyanina’s. She hit him briefly, aimed, point-blank, and gave the foreman a second. That second during which you are supposed to drink vodka until the grave.

No one remembered how long that battle lasted. If normal time consider - the battle was fleeting, as befits a counter battle according to the regulations. And if you measure by the life lived - by the force expended, by the tension - it was longing for a good layer of life, and for some, for the whole life.

Galya Chetvertak was so scared that she was never able to shoot. She lay there, hiding her face behind a stone and covering her ears with her hands; the rifle was lying to the side. And Zhenya quickly came to her senses: she hit White light like a penny. Hit or missed: this is not a shooting range, there’s no time to aim.

Two machine guns and one three-line gun - there was only fire, but the Germans could not stand it. Not because they were afraid, of course, there was uncertainty. And, after shooting a little, they rolled away. Without fire cover, without a barrier, they simply rolled back. Into the forests, as it turned out later.

Suddenly the fire fell silent, only Komelvkova was still shooting, her body shuddering with the recoil. I finished off the clip and stopped. She looked at Vaskov as if she had surfaced.

That’s it,” Vaskov sighed.

There was grave silence, there was already a ringing in my ears. It stank of gunpowder, stone dust, and smoke. The sergeant-major wiped his face - his palms became bloody: they were cut by shrapnel.

Did it hurt you? - Osyanina asked in a whisper.

No, said the foreman. - Look there, Osyanina.

He poked his head around the stone: they didn’t shoot. I looked closely: in the distant birch forest that connected with the forest, the tops were shaking. He carefully slid forward, holding the revolver in his hand. He ran across, took cover behind another boulder, and looked out again: there was dark blood on the moss scattered by the explosion. There was a lot of blood, but there were no bodies: they were carried away.

Having climbed the rocks and bushes and made sure that the saboteurs had not left anyone behind the barrier, Fedot Evgrafych calmly and tall returned to his own. My face was sore, and my fatigue felt like I was being pressed under cast iron. I didn't even want to smoke. I would have liked to lie down, at least lie down for ten minutes, but I didn’t have time to come up - Osyanina with a question:

Are you a communist, comrade foreman?

Member of the Bolshevik Party...

Please be the chairman of the Komsomol meeting.

Vaskov was stunned:

Meeting?...

I saw: the quarter roars into three streams. And Komelkova - in the soot of gunpowder, like a gypsy - her eyes sparkle:

Cowardice!... That's it...

“The meeting is good,” Fedot Evgrafych began, growing fierce. - This is wonderful: a meeting! This means we will hold the event, condemn Comrade Chetvertak for his confusion, and write a protocol. So?…

The girls were silent. Even Galya stopped crying: she listened, sniffling.

And the Krauts will impose their resolution on this protocol for us. Good?... Not good. Therefore, as a foreman and as a communist, I also cancel on given time all meetings. And I report the situation: the Germans have gone into the forests. There is a lot of blood at the site of the grenade explosion: that means we killed someone. So there are thirteen of them, that’s how we should count. This is the first question. And the second question - with my machine gun I have one clip left unopened. What about you, Osyanina?

One and a half.

Like this. As for cowardice, there was none. Cowardice, girls, is only visible in the second battle. And this is simply confusion. From inexperience. Right, fighter Chetvertak?

Then I order you to wipe away your tears and snot. Osyanina - move forward and watch the forest. The rest of the fighters should eat and rest as much as possible. No questions? Execute.

We ate in silence. Fedot Evgrafych didn’t want to eat at all, but just sat with his legs stretched out, but he chewed diligently: he needed strength. His fighters, without looking at each other, ate like they were young - there was a real crunch. And that’s okay: they haven’t become soggy, they’re holding on for now.

The sun was already low, the edge of the forest began to darken, and the foreman was worried. The help was somehow late, and the Germans in that whitish twilight could either jump out at him again, or seep in from the sides in the neck between the lakes, or flow into the forests: look for them then. It was necessary to start the search again, to sit on their tail again in order to know the position. I should have, but I didn’t have the strength.

Yes, everything was going wrong so far, very wrong. And he ruined the fighter, and he revealed himself, and he needed rest. But help didn’t come and didn’t come...

However, Vaskov allowed himself to rest until Osyanina had eaten. Then he stood up, hunched his shoulders tighter, and said gloomily:

Fighter Chetvertak is going with me on the search. Here is Osyanina the eldest. Task: follow at a long distance.

If you hear shots, I order you to hide. Hide and wait until we arrive. Well, if we don’t come up, move away. Secretly retreat through our previous positions to the west. Before the first people; report there.

Of course, the thought arose that there was no need to go into such a business with Chetvertak, no need. Here with Komelkova it’s just right: a proven comrade, tested twice in one day - it’s a rare man who can boast of this. But the commander is not just a military leader, he is also obliged to be an educator of his subordinates. That's what the charter says.

And Sergeant Major Vaskov respected the regulations. He respected it, knew it by heart and carried it out religiously. And so he said to Galya:

You will leave your duffel bag and overcoat here. Follow me closely and watch what I do. And, no matter what happens, remain silent. Be silent and forget about tears.

Listening to him, Chetvertak nodded hastily and fearfully...

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