"The Witch's Castle" was written in 1939. The impending threat of fascism became more tangible, the first sparks of the future fire of the world war broke out (when the writer worked on the story, the fascists had already captured the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia). And although humanity did not yet know everything about the great disasters that fascism brings to the world, about the bloody massacres of patriots, about the inhuman experiences of “scientists” of Nazis over prisoners in concentration camps, a science fiction writer who knows how to look into the future, and in the story “The Castle of Witches” remained true to himself. The sinister image of Hubermann seemed to anticipate the real images of von Braun, Messerschmitt, who put his knowledge and abilities in the service of Nazism, war ... And today, when international tensions are again exacerbated, when even more terrible means of war are being developed, the story of A. Belyayeva acquires a new relevance. The writer again makes each of us feel his involvement in the fate of mankind, his responsibility for it. And again contrasts the people of war with courage, perseverance of those who fight for peace, for happiness on earth.