The brown faux leather cigarette case belonged to the writer and journalist Arkady Petrovich Gaidar. It consists of two parts. A cigarette case is a flat case that is used to store and carry cigars, cigarettes, or papirosas (hand-rolled cigarettes).

According to the memoirs of Colonel Alexander Dmitrievich Orlov, his first meeting with Arkady Gaidar took place in late August 1941 during the defense of Kiev.

The defensive line had already reached the western outskirts of the city. The fighter aviation division, in which Orlov served, defended Kiev from enemy air raids and supported ground forces. That morning, Alexander Dmitrievich was summoned to the front headquarters in the city of Brovary. In the political department, he was introduced to the correspondent of “Komsomolskaya Pravda, ” Arkady Petrovich Gaidar. Together, they went to the airfield where Alexander Dmitrievich’s regiment was stationed.

Later, Alexander Orlov met Arkady Gaidar several times at the front line. A few weeks after the encirclement of Kiev, Orlov, along with a group of soldiers, was making his way out of the encirclement near the Berezan railway station. He and Gaidar met again; Gaidar had joined their detachment along with several Red Navy sailors from the Dnieper flotilla. During the few weeks that Orlov and Gaidar spent in the same partisan unit, they developed a close friendship.

On October 18, 1941, when Alexander Dmitrievich, together with a group of commanders, were preparing to move toward the front line, Gaidar decided to stay behind but wanted to see his comrades off. He walked with them for about five kilometers. Arkady Petrovich then stopped, gave Orlov a farewell embrace, and handed him the cigarette case. Inside was a transparent plastic mouthpiece, which was considered a rare item. Alexander Dmitrievich liked it very much, so Arkady Petrovich gave him a cigarette case as a farewell gift.

Subsequently, Colonel Orlov presented Boris Nikolayevich Kamov with Arkady Gaidar’s memorabilia as a token of gratitude for his work on the book “Gaidar’s Partisan Trail.” Boris Nikolayevich collected extensive material, including the recollections of partisans and people who helped Gaidar’s partisan detachment. The author was able to reconstruct the circumstances of the writer’s last months and his death.