The poem by Okudzhava is comprehended against the background of a number of texts published during the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Patriotic War. Okudzhava’s unique stand in the situation of the historic celebration is determined, the controversy with Levitansky’s poem The Little Man is traced. It is shown how Andersen’s formula of the ‘persistent tin soldier’ is transformed in Okudzhava’s point of view. The views of Okudzhava and Samoilov on literature about the war are compared.
