Writing Prompts - Olga Borochina

Prompt 1

Please watch the video of Olga Borochina as she discusses several central ideas. Determine one central idea from the video and write an essay that both summarizes and analyzes how that central idea is developed over the course of the video, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details. Cite strong and thorough evidence from the video to support your analysis.

Prompt 2

In the video testimony and the transcript, Olga describes a time when the Orthodox Jewish men in her town were forced to shave their beards (6:20). How does Olga’s statement further our knowledge about the treatment of Ukrainian Jews during this time period? Write an essay that compares and contrasts Olga’s experience in the Ukraine with the treatment of Tennessee Survivor, Esther Loeb, who was in Poland. during this time period.  Below is Olga's statement taken from the interview transcript:

“Olga Borochina: The Germans go very, very soon, they go.  When we came in the city, Germany, they began to kill the Jews.  The old Jews with beards.  The old rabbis from city with the beard, the religious would carry bread and salt.  They were welcoming the Germans. 

Interviewer:           The rabbis were, why is that?

Olga Borochina: They thinking you go with bread.  You have soft.  You’ll not kill.

Interpreter:            They wanted to soften the people.  They wanted to say they're welcoming them so they would not kill them.

Interviewer:           How did the Germans respond?

Olga Borochina: They shaved their beard.  They were putting them on the ground and they were eating dirt. “