WW2ORAL HISTORY Video Project – to be done in pairs

Purpose: To document an oral history of another person’s remembrances of the WW2 period. You are filming/recording a brief, personal history of your interviewee’s experiences in their words.

Interview Directions:

1. Find someone born1936 at the latest who remembers the war years. (it does not matter if they were living in North America, Europe, or Asia.) See me regarding problems finding someone to talk to. ** in some cases it will work for children of WWII survivors to tell the story of their parents’ experiences if the survivors themselves are too old or no longer with us.

2. Find out some initial information about that person’s experiences during the late thirties and early forties (so you can form questions) and set a date for an interview. Also ask if it will be okay to tape- or video record the session. You mustrecord the conversation and it is a wonderful way to create a memory if you interview a family member! See me with individual problems recording the interview.

3. Create a list of appropriate questions for your person prior to your meeting.

4. Set aside an hour to talk to your interviewee, this allows for small talk and no one feels rushed. Most likely the actual interview should be 30-45 minutes. Arrange to meet in a comfortable place. Remember to test your recording device before the interview.

5. Do your interview. Ask follow up questions when necessary, but let your interviewee do most of the talking. Have fun and thank the person for their time!!! A note sent in the mail after the fact is a much-appreciated gesture and is mandatory for this project!

BE SENSITIVE!!! War means sad things for people. Ask sensible questions and if it gets touchy, take a moment, then ask a different question!!

Project Directions:

WRITTEN INTRODUCTION- one per group written on Google Docs shared with me but printed to turn in: In narrative, (first-person) paragraph form. Double spaced. Includes:

  • Description of the person being interviewed and your relationship to that person.
  • General focus of the interview (the initial information you knew about the person during WW2 before the actual interview.)
  • Where and when did the interview actually take place?
  • A list of questions that were planned (even if they don’t all show up in the film project.

FILM PROJECT: The actual interview turned into a finished film or photostory.

  • You will edit the most important aspect of the story into a 5-10 minute production that focuses on the interview but is supplemented with graphics and appropriate music: still photos or perhaps even video shorts, that demonstrate what the interviewee is describing. Interviewee might provide graphics for you (photos, maps etc) or you might have to research graphics to include in the video.
  • Any captions or title slides should have proper grammar. You must proofread and spell-check and look up proper names of places and people i.e. Guadalcanal an island in the Pacific.
  • Unrelated or unnecessary information like “uh” and “you know” can be edited out.
  • Be prepared to provide a copy of your project to the participant(s) to share with his/her family!

RAW FOOTAGE:one disk that you turn in should be your raw footage, in case I have questions about other parts of the interview. Please label it clearly as RAW.

WRITTEN CONCLUSION- separate reflections by each partner (2 papers submitted): Narrative form and double spaced.

Offer your observations about how the interview went. Think about your questions, the answers, and the rapport between the two of you. Tell what you learned about the war that you didn’t know before the interview. Tell what you learned about interviewing in general. Please also tell me about the film and production process. BE THOUGHTFUL. Most of your grade is determined by your conclusion.

THANK YOU NOTE: You must eachwrite thank you note which is to be handed to me in an unsealed, addressed, stamped envelope. After I read your note (don’t make it too personal for my eyes,) I will bring it to the post office. If your note is in a foreign language, please translate on a sticky note that I can remove before posting.

FINAL NOTES:

  • You must follow media center guidelines on borrowing equipment and using editing stations.
  • I am not proficient in film editing programs and will not be able to assist much on the technical end of your project, but there are many capable students in THS who are a wealth of information in this area!

Suggested Questions for a US Veteran, an American citizen or a Holocaust Survivor:(for any interviewee, these questions are just a starting point, you will need to create some of your own and ask follow up questions to answers to make a complete interview.

US Military Veteran of WW2 Questions (EXAMPLES):

  1. Do you remember Pearl Harbor? What were your feelings? Where were you, or what were you doing when you heard about the attack on Hawaii?
  1. What branch of the service were you in? Were you a volunteer or were you drafted? How did you and your family and friends feel about the draft during WW2? How did the draft board work in your area? How were you notified about your induction?
  1. Where were you sent for training? What was the overall experience of military training like? What specific training did you receive? Did you have any memorable experiences during your training period? Was it difficult to go from civilian to military life?
  1. Were you sent overseas? To which theater of war were you sent? What was your role overseas: were you in combat or did you fulfill a support role in the war? What was your primary mission as part of the armed services? What memories of your time overseas stick with you? What interesting experiences do you recall from your time in the service?
  1. Everyday life while serving overseas? What was the food like? What were living conditions like? How much contact did you have with people at home? Did you benefit from the work of the USO before you shipped out or while you were serving abroad?
  1. Who were some of you officers? Did you have any contact with any important military leaders? What was your opinion of your officers and the commander-in-chief Roosevelt? How about his successor Truman?
  1. How did you feel about the enemy? Did you feel the war was justified? Did you have any direct contact with the military of the enemy? How did you feel about those soldiers as people? Do you still feel the same way?
  1. If you were in the European theater of war, were you aware at the time of the concentration camps set up by the Nazis? Did you participate in the liberation of any of those camps?
  1. Do you remember the dropping of the Atomic Bomb? What was your reaction? Do you think the dropping of the bomb was the right thing to do? Why or why not?How has the passing of time affected your feelings about WW2?
  1. Were you involved in the post war activities in Europe or Asia? What role did you serve?
  1. How has your experience as part of the US armed services during WW2 impacted your life? How has your experience in the military in general impacted your life?
  1. Is there anything else about your experience during WW2 that I should know about but I have not asked the right question, thus far?

Questions for an American on the Homefront during WW2 (EXAMPLES):

  1. Do you remember the Pearl Harbor attack? What do you remember about the attack: where were you, what were you doing, how did you feel?
  1. Were did you live during the war? Did you move during the war period? Why? How had the Great Depression impacted your family up to the time of the Pearl Harbor attack?
  1. Were you in school during the war years? If so, do you recall any special programs for young people to help with the war effort?
  1. Were you or anyone in your family in war work here in the states? Do you recall propaganda or award systems that encouraged workers to do their part? How were working conditions during this time period?
  1. What organizations do you remember from the war years? Did you or your family or friends participate in any of them? (Examples: Red Cross, Civil Defense, USO) What role did people in these organization play?
  1. What do you remember about rationing? What was rationed? How was it rationed? Do you remember how people got around rationing limits?
  1. What do you remember about your family or community changing the way it does things during the war? What do you remember out air raid drills and blackouts? Were there bond rallies or USO dances or something similar near where you were living?
  1. What do you remember about entertainment during the war years? How did the war impact the film industry, the radio industry? What do you remember about the way the enemy was portrayed in propaganda (posters, film, etc?) What did people do for entertainment during the war that is different from today?
  1. What do you remember about the way the media informed Americans about the war?
  1. What do you remember about our political and military leaders at the time? (Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Patton, etc) Did you have any strong feelings about any of them?
  1. What do you remember about the internment of Japanese Americans? What was your opinion of the camps at the time? How were Italians or Germans treated in your community during the war?
  1. When did you first hear about the Nazi concentration camps? Was it during or after the war? How did you feel when you first learned about the camps?
  1. Do you remember the dropping of the Atomic Bomb? What was your reaction? Do you think the dropping of the bomb was the right thing to do? Why or why not? How has the passing of time affected your feelings about WW2?
  1. Are there any other memories about America during the war years that I should know about but I have not asked the right question, thus far?

Questions for a Holocaust Survivor (EXAMPLES):

  1. What was life like for you and your family before the Holocaust?
  1. What were your earliest memories of the Holocaust?
  1. Did you experience or know of discrimination of any kind prior to the Holocaust?
  1. What was the first thing that happened to you as a result of government repression? How quickly did the German takeover occur in the area where you were living?
  1. Did anyone protect or assist you or your family during the Holocaust? Did you feel you were betrayed by any friend or family member at any time during this period?
  1. Were you in a concentration camp, and if so, for how long, and did you know people in the camps that were not Jewish?
  1. What was daily life like in the camps? What kinds of work were you forced to do? What were the sleeping and eating conditions? Did you feel that inmates worked together to survive or was it more about taking care of and your own?
  1. What kinds of punishment or humiliation did you experience or witness in your town, ghetto, or concentration camp?Were all guards equally evil?
  1. What was the saddest day or time period that you can remember during this period? What was the happiest moment for you- when did you feel joy again?
  1. What motivated you to keep on going during the Holocaust? Did you ever give up hope?
  1. How did you get free? Was there a specific liberation force or did the guards just run off? What was life like in between the life in the camps and starting over? How did you get healthy again? How did you get home? How did you figure out where home was going to be if you were not going back to where you were born?
  1. Tell me about the life you set up for yourself once the whole ordeal was over?
  1. Whom do you feel is most responsible for the Holocaust? What responsibility do the world’s leaders have in the outcome of the Holocaust? (US President, other Prime Ministers, the Pope)
  1. Has your faith been influenced by your experience?
  1. How has your experience in the Holocaust impacted your present outlook on world events and leaders?
  1. How are you as a survivor, dealing with the “deniers” of today?
  1. How do you feel about German people today?
  1. Have you ever returned to your birthplace or home? What was that like? If not, would you want to?
  2. Have you ever visited a camp site or camp site memorial/museum? Why or why not?
  1. What are the most important things we can do to prevent another Holocaust?
  1. What books and/or movies about the Holocaust would you recommend that young people read or see?
  1. What did you learn about life, about yourself during the ordeal of the Holocaust?

WW2 Oral History ALTERNATIVE VERSION for SUBMISSION-

instead of transcribing an interview onto paper by yourself you can do a . . .

VIDEO Interview Project with your choice of partner.

Parts that are the SAME as typed, transcribed, individual version:

-Must find an older person who remembers war years

-Must prepare questions

-Must interview person for 30-45 minutes, filming their answers and asking follow up questions.

-Must have an introduction to the interviewee in the film

-Must submit some written parts (see below)

-Must thank the interviewee in person and with a thank you note.

Parts that are DIFFERENT for the Video version:

-You get to work in pairs.

-You will decide early on that you are doing a video version and find a person capable and willing to be interviewed on camera right away!

-You and your partner will BOTH get a mandatory tutorial in filming and editing an interview with Mr. Moger and myself afterschool at an arranged date. If you have successfully completed a class with him already, you will only have to stay for the first part of the tutorial. I will not accept video projects from people who do not attend the tutorial session. Partnership and proficiency must be established EARLY in process!

- You will both work on writing questions but one person serves as camera man and the other interviewee. Because of editing abilities, cameraman can contribute from behind the camera with follow up questions.

-You will work in pairs to edit the most important aspect of the story into a 5-10 minute production that focuses on the interview but is supplemented with graphics: still photos or perhaps even videos, that demonstrate what the interviewee is describing. Interviewee might provide graphics (photos, maps etc) or you might have to research graphics to include in the video.

- I am not proficient in film editing programs and therefore will not be able to assist much on the technical end of your project!

**- You must follow media center rules on borrowing equipment.

What is handed in:

- a written list of your original questions regardless of which made it into the film

-a written conclusion- a reflection on the project and what was learned about WW2

- the entire raw footage (in case I have questions about other parts of the interview.) AND

- a final fully edited finished product that I can keep and play to the class or others!!!

Also:

- You will provide a final fully edited finished product for your interviewee to share with his/her family.

- You will be prepared to have your interview available to be published on our school library website- meaning get permission from your interviewee and from your parents.

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