The Living and the Dead

Main Ideas

• War is the only way to protect the Soviet Union from the Nazi threat
• The theme of heroism of Soviet soldiers and the complexity of moral choices on the front
• Depiction of the tragedy and scale of human losses during the Great Patriotic War
• Reflection on the resilience and endurance of the Soviet people in wartime conditions
• The importance of personal responsibility to history and one's own conscience
• The challenge of maintaining humanity in extreme conditions
• The conflict between personal feelings and duty to the Motherland