Vasylyk was a neighbor and distant relative of the author, who was banished from the village and sent to a concentration camp. The author's family heard that he had been shot while trying to escape from the camp, but one evening he turned up at their house looking ragged, filthy, and exhausted.

Vasylyk told the family his story, which the author recounts. Having been arrested, he was sent on a long train journey in the middle of Winter, on which he endured many hardships, and lost his mother and sister. He and his fellow prisoners were taken to a remote location in deep snow, where they had to cut wood and build their own dwellings. He tried to escape several times and, after two years, finally succeeded, when a railwayman gave him civilian clothes which he was able to use as a disguise. He then returned to the village, via Moscow and Kiev.

After living with the author's family for a few weeks, Vasylyk moved to the local town to seek work. However, he was later shot by a particularly ruthless official called Mayevsky, who recognized him. When the author told his mother about this, she insisted on going to find his body and gave it a proper burial.