The war caught Pavlik and his mother far from Leningrad, where they lived. Soon they found themselves in the territory occupied by the Nazis. When his mother was arrested on the traitor's denunciation, Pavlik went on foot to Leningrad. The partisan scout Savely brought the boy to his house, and two winters later Pavel, having matured, became a soldier and returned to Leningrad with a partisan supply train.

The war caught Pavlik and his mother far from Leningrad, where they lived. Soon they found themselves in the territory occupied by the Nazis. When his mother was arrested on the traitor's denunciation, Pavlik went on foot to Leningrad. The partisan scout Savely brought the boy to his house, and two winters later Pavel, having matured, became a soldier and returned to Leningrad with a partisan supply train.