: 30s of the XX century. The roads of street children converge in a labor colony named after May Day. Common life changes their characters and turns them into worthy citizens of the young Soviet Republic.

Part 1

This story began about the fate of several street children at the end of the first five-year plan. All of them ended up on the street for various reasons and are forced to look for a livelihood for themselves.

Vanya Galchenko is a shoe-polisher, he is about twelve years old, he was on the street recently. His parents died during the war, and the foster children left the city, leaving the boy alone.

During work, Vanya gets acquainted with Igor Chernyavin. Igor is an educated and intelligent boy. “This is a youth of sixteen, thin and long. He has a mockingly sarcastic big mouth and funny eyes. ” Igor's father, a Petersburg professor, openly cheated on his wife. Igor could not get along with domestic problems and decided to run away from them. Several times he was returned to his parents, and each time he escaped. Igor lives in scams: he picks up money transfers “from his grandmother” from the post office, which, of course, no one sent him.

At the same time, Vanya got acquainted with Wanda Stadnitskaya. “Wanda is a very pretty girl, but it is noticeable that in her life there were already serious setbacks. Her blond hair was apparently not combed or washed for a long time; in fact, they can no longer be called blond. ” Wanda is engaged in prostitution, although she is only fifteen years old. Perhaps this was pushed by Grisha Ryzhikov. For work, Vanda is paid a penny, money is barely enough for food. Ryzhikov and prostitution are disgusting to her.

Grishka Ryzhikov is a “gloomy, ugly guy. On the cheek - a healing sore. There are no caps, but red hair is combed. ” He is a typical thief.

Igor and Vanya come to the park to have dinner with a roll of sausage and sit on a bench at Vanda, at the same time they offer to have a bite to her too. The guys get to know each other. Igor offers four of them to go to London. There is nothing to lose - everyone agrees. They ride a freight train, hiding at stops from inspectors. Ryzhikov reveals to everyone the secret of Wanda, the girl is hysterical, but Igor stands up for her. Igor Chernyavin is being arrested at one of the stations - they learned about his scam with money transfers in many cities.

After the arrest of Igor, Wanda disappeared somewhere. Vanya and Ryzhikov roam the city together. Vanya earns money for a shoe shine; he also has ten rubles donated by Igor. A boy has to spend the night near the city in a haystack. In the morning Vanya wakes up alone. Nearby there is neither Ryzhikov, nor a box with shoe polish and brushes, nor a bill in his pocket. The thief condemned the boy to hunger.

A month passes. On the main street of the city, Vanya sees a company of boys - shoe cleaners. The main one, Spirka, allows Vanya to work with them, but gives only part of the profit. During the check, Vanya runs away - he has no documents. Again, hungry days come, the weather deteriorates, it rains - it’s already impossible to sleep in a haystack. Vanya decides in any way to get into the colony named after May Day, about which he heard a lot.

Igor is sent to this colony as a novice felon. At first, he resists the system. Personal ideas still dominate him - Igor refuses to work and obey the general rules, he sincerely does not understand why no one pays attention to his “rebellion”. He wonders if he will be punished for his protest and whether they can break his personality, subordinate to the general system. However, there is another reason for this behavior - it is fear. Igor never worked, he didn’t go to school for two years - he doesn’t know anything.However, Igor is assigned to the eighth brigade and given him a feasible job - to process the legs for furniture. There are other workshops in the colony organized by Solomon Davidovich.

Talk with Igor on the advice of the team leaders. The boy is explained the need for labor and the rules of the colony are interpreted. Earlier, Igor thought that the colony and its team could not influence him in any way, but now he is ashamed of his behavior. Suddenly, Vanya Galchenko is brought to the council. He is wet, thin and battered. The guys want to take him to their colony, but there are no places, and Vanya has no documents. Igor agrees to “anything,” if only they would accept Vanya, because he is still small and not spoiled by the street, he has every chance of becoming a worthy person.

Part 2

Colonies to them. May 1 was already seven years old, but the history of her team began “on the second day after October, in another place, in a completely different surroundings, among the fields and farms of the old Poltava steppe. The “founders” of this team were people of bright characters and risky luck. They brought "from outside" much disordered passions and hot style, it was all them niggers ... in fact, unfit for consumption because it was tainted ornaments culture, so to say, capitalist, with a little roll in the criminal act. "

A small group of teachers was headed by an "ordinary person" Alexei Stepanovich Zakharov. “One thing was extraordinary and stunning in this cause: the October Revolution and the new horizons of the world. And therefore, the task for Zakharov and his friends seemed clear: to educate a new person, ”but this turned out to be a difficult and long matter.

Zakharov long ago got rid of "the most important" pedagogical vice ": the belief that children are only an object of upbringing" and treated his pupils "as comrades and citizens." He demanded of them one thing: "no breakdowns, not a single day of decomposition, not a single moment of confusion."

More than once a check came from the city to look at life in the colony. None of them could believe that the colony had changed the kids, made them forget about the past.

Vanya really likes to live in a colony: he is friends with the guys, works in the fourth brigade. Igor, as promised, collects furniture. Summer has come, but Igor sometimes goes to school: makes up for lost time, recalls what has already been studied.

Once Grishka Ryzhikova and Vanda Stadnitskaya are brought to the colony. Wanda, seeing Ryzhikov, flatly refuses to live in a colony: she is afraid that he will tell about her past. However, Zakharov takes the word from Ryzhikov not to disclose the secret of Wanda to anyone. Igor meets Ryzhikov very wary, not believing in the possibility of his correction.

At first, Wanda behaves in a closed manner, is not friends with anyone, refuses to sew panties together with the other girls, and leaves for the boys in the workshop.

Every week in the colony a movie is shown, but once in the city they did not give a film for rent. Then the colonists decide to stage the play. Igor plays the partisan, Vanya - one of the dogs. Worried, Igor forgets that he needs to "fall dead" after the shot. " This causes a general laugh, but the play is successful. During the play, Ryzhikov and his friend Ruslan are going to rob a production warehouse, but Vanya is stopping them.

Igor falls in love with fifteen-year-old laborer Oksana Litovchenko. Misha Gontar is also in love with her. Because of this, comrades often quarrel. The colony knows that Oksana is an orphan operated by a bourgeois lawyer. All sympathize with Oksana, and at the same time notice Oksana’s “special, calm vigor, silent dignity, unhurried smile and a smart look. She never heard a single complaint from her. ” In fact, the parents of Oksana Litovchenko, the workers' communists, died, and the friend took them to a friend, Comrade Cherny, a professor of Soviet law, they were at the front with Oksana’s father. Oksana and Wanda become inseparable friends.

Arrives Mikhail Osipovich Kreutzer, one of the founders of the colony and its former graduate.He inspects the production: old machine tools, frail workshop buildings, poor materials - and offers Zakharov and the whole colony to build a new power tool factory. There are no such plants in the USSR yet, and the country has to buy equipment abroad. Peter Petrovich Vorgunov becomes the chief engineer.

On the account of the colony there are three hundred thousand, but to build a new plant you need to accumulate the same amount. The guys set themselves the goal: by all means save up the required amount for the year and even overfulfill the plan.

Ryzhikov tells Levitin about the past of Wanda. As a sign of punishment, Levitin is left on duty in the colony on November 7th, on the day of the parade. He did not expect to be punished.

A thief appears in the colony. First, two coats disappear, and then backstage from the stage. Difficult times are approaching: everyone trusts each other, and it is impossible to suspect someone.

Part 3

Summer is coming, and the guys move to live in the camp: the "sponsors" give them old tents. The "dead time" has been introduced, the guys sleep after dinner and gain strength for work.

The colonists work a lot, the plant is being actively built. A labor summary edited by Igor Chernyavin is published weekly. There is a schedule in the lobby - a work plan topped by a tower. As soon as one of the workshops fulfills the annual work plan, its flag will appear on the tower. Now the closest to the goal is a women's workshop for sewing panties.

There used to be two dinners in the colony, but they cancel one for the sake of economy and decide not to sew the full dress every year.

Approaching May 1. In honor of the holiday, the guys once again staged the performance “Peace”, which the audience likes so much that the guys-actors and musicians are asked to show the performance in the city.

Thefts are becoming more frequent, valuable tools disappear from the factory. Ryzhikov claims that Levitin brought out several keys from the shop. The search confirms this, but the boy cries and proves that he did not steal. Vanya and the Runner are suspected of all thefts of Ryzhikov himself, but they do not have enough evidence. Toddlers are supported by Igor Chernyavin.

Volenko, the foreman of the first brigade, in which Ruslan Gorokhov, Ryzhikov and Levitin work, cannot stand the shame and leaves for his mother. Nesterenko and Klava Kashirin are preparing for admission to the university. It is necessary to choose other foremen. In the eighth brigade unanimously choose Igor Chernyavin, in the first they vote for Ryzhikov.

Everyone notes that Wanda and driver Petr Vorobyov are in love and condemn them. Soon they run away together. In a note, Wanda reports that he is marrying Vorobyov. A month later, she returns and thanks the colony: "Thank you for your life!"

The plant has already been built, many flags from the schedule are already flaunting on the towers. The plant begins to work. Thefts continue, now the rare details necessary for the operation of the entire plant disappear. Igor accuses Vanya of stealing engine oil. The boy pleads guilty, but blames Ryzhikov for larger thefts. There are other witnesses.

At the meeting, Ryzhikov does not withstand the onslaught and confesses to all thefts, counting on forgiveness. But there is no forgiveness. Ryzhikov’s case is being transferred to the NKVD. It was decided to return Volenko, the whole colony meets him on the platform and returns him the position of foreman of the first brigade.

The news comes about the death of Kirov. Flags lowered on the towers. At the general meeting, a conversation is held on the topic "who is the enemy." Now the guys are looking at life differently, they have matured. Now they know that the enemy can be among them, gain confidence, and then steal from their own, like Ryzhikov, or even kill a politician.

“Life goes on, and the struggle goes on. And joy continues, already conquered in life, and love continues. ” Igor Chernyavin, whose big mouth now expresses not only irony, but also strength, marries Oksana. Wanda Stadnitskaya becomes a mother and drummer at the factory. Vanya Galchenko and the fourth brigade “the glorious, invincible fourth brigade - ringing the earth with a silver march, and other brigades next to them, the great brigades of workers of the USSR — historical brigades of the thirties”.