Essays for school

True crime podcast script

Anastasia Romanov --- we had to do a voice recording of a murder or some crime that happened.

Video Time Stamps

0:00 - Introduction

0:16 - Opening Jingle

0:27 - Historical context (2nd person)

3:44 - The Crime (me >:)

7:38 - Theories & Speculations (1st person)

10:46 - Closing Jingle

Jingle

1st person

Hello everyone. Thank you for choosing the Flappy Bird Podcast. I'm Liz Davis, with Tiare Baginski, and Emi Takara. We are period four, Ms. Barten, and our topic of discussion today is the mystery of Anastasia Romanov, the lost princess. We're glad to have you joining us today.

Part I (2nd person)

This story will take you back to a time of great social and political unrest; a time when the country of Russia was in a state of turmoil and revolution. In 1917 Russia had been under the rule of Russia's last living emperor, Tsar Nicholas II, who'd been in power for almost three decades in a dynasty that had been around and lasted for three centuries. He had reached the end of his reign in 1917 when he was forced to abdicate, renouncing his throne. In October of that year there was also the occurrence of the October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution. This was the last major phase of the Russian Revolution that had begun in 1917 and was a result of a couple of issues, including widespread economic inflation, food shortages, the social system, and the autocratic and weak leadership of Nicholas II. The tsar considered himself a nationalist and expressed his love for his country and the inhabitants there that he ruled. However, he had many outweighing weaknesses and faults that ultimately made him a rather poor leader. He was widely seen as an incompetent, politically weak, indecisive, and all around an ineffective leader. He was also conservative, and developed prejudices against different groups of people, and became too reliant on the aristocracy for advice as he was not an adaptable person. The last years of his reign as emperor were filled with violence and chaos with the country in turmoil and this would mark the end of the long-lasting Romanov dynasty.

As for the rest of the family, the Tzar was married to Princess Alexandra Feodorovna of Hesse, Germany and together they gave birth to a beautiful family; a son named Alexei and four daughters who were Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia. The royal family lived in luxury and extravagance in a magnificent palace in St. Petersburg with hundreds of servants tending to them and thousands of rooms. They painted a beautiful picture of themselves as a supposedly very privileged, extravagant, and fabulous family, and it was as if they were something out of a dream or perhaps a fairytale. They were a family so seemingly perfect; almost untouchable. So, what could have gone wrong? What was the horrible tragedy that would end up becoming the fate of the Romanov family?

Anastasia Romanov the youngest of the four daughters, born in Petrodvorets, Russia on June 18, 1901. During her childhood she received an education from her mother, who taught Anastasia prayers and spelling. But in her later years she was assigned a Swiss tutor and a governor to look after her. She was, just like the rest of her siblings, very pretty and photogenic. She wore an innocent face with the softest of features; dark eyebrows, soft brown hair, fine eyes. She was also a very lively and high-spirited girl. But, what was special and important about Anastasia? What was her fate? How was it different from the rest of her family's?

Part II (my part)

The Romanovs were to all be executed under the commands of the cold and merciless Yakov Yurovsky, a Russian OldBolshevik, revolutionary, and Soviet Chekis. On the night of July 17, 1918. The family was forced to walk down the basement of the Ipatiev house. What they didn't know was that they were taking steps leading to their own demise. They had been told they were being moved to a new location to ensure their safety. The family and the small circle of servants with them were herded into a small room in the house's sub-basement and told to wait. The crushing weight of fear filled the room. Guards then entered the room, led by Yurovsky, who quickly informed the Tsar and his family that they were to be executed. The Tsar had time to say only "What?" and turned to his family, maybe to protect them, before he was killed by several bullets to the chest. Some reports say that he had been shot to the head but these are actually false. The gunmen then opened fire on the family and servants.