On January 27, 1962, a concert at the Maly Theatre in Leningrad is interrupted when a gunman forces his way inside. Upon arrest, at the police station, the former state prisoner recalls the summer of 1941... When the German army began its invasion of Soviet Russia, four children were evacuated to the countryside: Maxim, the son of a senior Communist Party official; Pyotr, the son of writers; Anka, the daughter of a concert violinist; and Grigory, the son of a pilot who was executed for insubordination. But the farm where they were staying came under attack, and the train that was supposed to take them to safety was destroyed by German planes. The four children had to then find their way back to Leningrad through enemy lines, an incredible adventure that would test their friendship to the limit...

Leningrad, 1962. Kalinka "Anka" Alexandrovna, leader of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, marches into the police station, where a vagabond is being questioned. The man was arrested after forcing his way into the opera house with a gun. He reminds Anka of the dark days of early 1942, when the Nazi army had surrounded the city and set fire to its food supplies. Its intentions were as simple as they were evil: to starve every one of its three million inhabitants. The man goes on to tell the story of four teenagers who struggled to survive that cruel winter: three boys from different rungs of the social ladder, and Anka, with whom each one of them was madly in love... The second and final volume of the series unravels a poignant story of survival, friendship, love, and betrayal set against the backdrop of a pitiless war.