Ikrama Baltaeva

Arslanbek Kalandarov became the chairman of the “Buston” collective farm during the war years. The poor village turned into a flourishing collective farm, and people got used to believing that this was the merit of the strong‑willed chairman. Kalandarov himself got used to this, and his word became law. He dismissed five secretaries of the party organization, turned the general meeting of collective farmers into an empty formality, and banned mechanized cotton harvesting in his collective farm. The district committee decided not to remove him from his position, but to try to re‑educate him.

Young Iskander is the first to learn that his father has been killed at the front, but he hides the news to protect his mother. He finds strength in his friendship with Rano and Igor, who has also lost his father in the war.

Lenin signs a decree on the establishment of a university in Turkestan.