"Exhibit No.…" by Boris Vasiliev, summary Automatic translate

The story was created in 1986. The plot revolves around the tragic fate of Anna Fedotovna, who lost her only son during the Great Patriotic War, whose memory was cruelly trampled upon by indifferent schoolchildren for the sake of a bureaucratic report.

October and the farewell to the front

On an autumn morning in 1941, Igorek leaves his communal apartment to defend the capital. He is ordered to report at seven o’clock, armed with the bare essentials of a soldier — a spoon and a mug. His neighbor, Volodya, a seasoned front-line soldier undergoing rehabilitation, gives the young man some stern, manly advice. Anna Fedotovna stands frozen in the doorway, unable to hold back a steady stream of tears. The neighbors peer anxiously out of their rooms, watching the boy’s frail back. Descending the stairs, Igorek turns and utters a short promise to return home. These words are forever etched in the memory of his grieving mother.

News from the front lines

In mid-December, Anna receives the only letter from her son. It’s hastily written in indelible pencil on a sheet torn from a notebook. Igor cheerfully reports on the soldiers’ successes, inquires about the fate of his neighbor Rimma, and hopes for a quick holiday. However, the postman soon brings a second letter, written in someone else’s handwriting. Sergeant Vadim Perepletchikov informs Anna Fedotovna of her son’s heroic death. Some time later, the official funeral notice arrives. For three days, the communal apartment resounds with sobs, after which Anna stops crying forever.

Difficult military life

To survive, a former accountant takes a job as a train car coupler at Savelovsky Station. The hard physical labor amidst massive trains helps her drown out her oppressive thoughts. She generously shares her food rations with the neighboring orphans. The remaining residents of the communal apartment are widows, whose shared communal life unites them into a single family. Masha Volkova has three children, Lyuba is raising twins, and Polina is raising a daughter, Rozochka. They support each other, plant potatoes together, and hold modest memorial services for their murdered husbands.

Return to peace

The fighting subsides, and the only surviving man, Vladimir, the injured neighbor, returns to the apartment. He soon marries Rimma, who lives next door. It was with her that Igor had once dreamed of corresponding, so Anna Fedotovna finds this difficult to accept. When the couple’s first child is born, Vladimir wants to name him Igor. Rimma categorically refuses, insisting on the name Andrei in memory of her deceased father. The newlyweds make a Komsomol promise to name their next child Igor, but instead, a girl named Valya is born.

New relatives

Having overcome her hidden resentment, Anna Fedotovna becomes a true grandmother to the neighbors’ children. She selflessly nurses the sick Andreyka, picks him up from daycare, feeds him, and takes him for walks outside. Rimma willingly entrusts the children’s upbringing to her older neighbor. Gradually, the older tenants move out, freeing up space. Vladimir’s family remains in the communal apartment, registering all the available rooms in their name. They categorically refuse to abandon the lonely woman. Anna combines her pension with their budget and takes on the household chores.

Sacred ritual

Every night before bed, Anna Fedotovna takes out a wooden box. Inside lies a lock of her son’s hair, his Pioneer badge, yellowed photographs, and two letters. Since the paper was so worn, she retyped the texts on a typewriter. As she reads these lines, she clearly hears the living voices of Igor and Sergeant Vadim. Their clear, youthful altos ring in her mind with absolute clarity. The official funeral notice, by contrast, feels like a heavy gravestone. This nightly process becomes the foundation of her existence.

Screen mirages

In 1965, the television schedule was filled with war documentaries. Anna Fedotovna always avoided such broadcasts, afraid to see the deaths of front-line soldiers. But one day, she accidentally spotted the back of a young man in a dirty overcoat on the screen. Convinced it was Igor, she began obsessively watching all the war footage. She sat close to the old television screen, hoping to catch the cherished frame again. Her son never appeared again, but the prolonged strain irreparably damaged her retinas.

Life in the Dark

The space around Anna Fedotovna gradually plunges into impenetrable darkness. Her medical optics stop working, and the letters in her letters blur into gray stripes. Having lost the ability to read texts on her own, she confides her secret to her now-grown granddaughter, Valya. The blind woman continues to actively navigate the apartment by touch. She washes dishes, cooks soup, and washes clothes. When Valya gives birth to a daughter, Tanechka, Anna Fedotovna finds a new nurse. The girl grows up and takes over from her mother at the old woman’s bedside, reciting news from the front.

Memories of the past

In the pre-dawn hours, Anna Fedotovna often reminisces about her son’s early childhood. She imagines him bathing in a small tub, seeing his first steps, and hearing his cheerful laughter. A comical episode from school comes to mind. Volodka, the neighbor’s brat, persuaded the obedient Igor to run away to Spain to fight the Nazis. The young rebels were intercepted at Belorussky Station and safely returned home. These retrospective thoughts calm her heart and help her maintain her composure.

The Fatal Visit

The year is 1985. The Pioneers are busily preparing for the fortieth anniversary of Victory Day, collecting materials for a themed exhibition. Having learned about the letters from the chatty Tanya, a committee of three schoolchildren comes to see Anna Fedotovna. The blind woman asks to retrieve the box from her dresser and offers the children printed copies. The girl leading the team aggressively refuses, demanding the originals. She rudely accuses the old woman of selfishness and brazenly blackmails her with the threat of her imminent death. Outraged by such cynicism, Anna orders the documents returned.

Loss and dumbness

That evening, a strange anxiety compels the woman to ask Rimma to check the box. It turns out the Pioneers cynically stole the originals. Only the official funeral notice remains at the bottom of the box. Upon hearing this verdict, Anna Fedotovna loses consciousness. The paramedics stabilize her electrocardiogram, but her inner world crumbles completely. She listens intently to herself, but the living voices of Igor and Vadim vanish forever. The papers weren’t stolen from the dresser — they were ripped directly from her soul.

Cold ending

Instead of her son’s warm words, a heartless, official text begins to thunder in the old woman’s head. An icy voice dispassionately reports the death of Private Silantyev. Tears, blocked decades ago, flow freely from her sightless eyes. Salty moisture continues to trickle down her cheeks even after her heart stops beating. The stolen relics never find a place on the school display boards. They are consigned to an archive folder as secondary historical materials, coldly assigned an inventory number.