Apples of Forty-First

An old tea-house attendant told a VGIK student about how in the winter of forty-one, when the fascists were approaching Moscow, he was among those who were assigned to guard the train with apples, which the collective farmers of Uzbekistan sent to the front. The old man's story was so touching and entertaining that Anwar doubted the authenticity of the story. The teahouse did not convince the guy and said goodbye to the student. Later, while picking up material from the military chronicle for his film, Anwar saw on the screen the familiar face of a teahouse and fighters guarding frozen apples. Remembering an unsaid episode of the war, the student went to meet his hero...