The author observes the life of Ivan Ivanovich Tolstoy, the specialist in classical studies, and his relatives during the years of the Great Patriotic War (1941—1945). The article is based on the published memories of I. I. Tolstoy’s daughter L. I. Tolstaya, the letters by I. I. Tolstoy addressed to his friends and colleagues and some other documents stored in the Saint Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The beginning of the war I.I. Tolstoy’s family faced in Leningrad. In the autumn of 1941 his son Ivan, who was called up to the people’s militia, went missing. The family did not want to believe in his death and for a long time refused to leave the besieged city as the departure from Leningrad meant for them the final loss of hope for the possibility of communication with Ivan. In April 1942 I. I. Tolstoy, being appointed as senior researcher at the Institute of Literature of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, left Leningrad for Kazan by train with the other employees of the Institute. In July 1942 his family also went to Kazan for evacuation. On the way his wife S. V. Melikova-Tolstaya became seriously ill and soon died. In December 1942 I. I. Tolstoy started to work at N. Ya. Marr Institute of Language and Thought of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. During his stay in Kazan he was actively engaged in research in the field of Greek language and ancient literature, as well as lecturing to the students of Kazan University. In July 1945 I. I. Tolstoy’s family returned to Leningrad.