O‘tkir Hoshimov and “Urushning so‘nggi qurboni”

The story takes place during the war years. The factory fitter Shoikrom has become hard because of hunger and thieves: his cow was stolen. At home are his wife Xadicha, his mother Umri xola and his brother Shone’mat, who is dying of tuberculosis. Shoikrom runs a live wire through the strawberry patch as a trap for thieves. In fact his mother, who secretly went at night to pick strawberries to trade for sheep’s milk for her sick son, falls into the trap and dies of electric shock. Shone’mat says he would rather have drunk poison than that milk. The story ends with news that the war is over — thus the meaning of “the last victim” is revealed. The work shows that war kills innocent people not only on the battlefield but also on the home front, and that hardness and vengefulness lead to tragedy.