The Great Patriotic War. The towns and villages of the Pskov region are occupied by the fascist army. The enemies torment and torture the locals, starve them and shoot them. Since August 1941, the village of Kurakino has also been captured. The commandant settles in the most respectable house of peasant Matvey Kuzmin, and the owners are forced to huddle in a cold barn. In the snowy and frosty winter of 1942, the German division receives an order to advance and go to the rear, unexpectedly attacking the Soviet troops. The German commander demands that Kuzmin show the soldiers the way to the village of Pershino occupied by the Red Army, promising to give him a gun and food as a reward. The old man agrees, but the enemies do not suspect what he is up to.