The tape is a formal interview with Evgeniia Abramovna Shvardovskaia, nee Teper, born 1923. (Part 1 of 3. See MDV 577 and Accession # 09-010.28-F MDV 553) She was born in Zof'yuvka (Yiddish: Trokhinbrod). When discussing life before the war, she explains that a teacher came to her house to teach her Yiddish and Hebrew, as there was no Jewish school in Zof'yuvka. She called him "Fishl the Stooped" and he taught her for three years at either his or her home. Her father Avrom was a lumber merchant among other things and born in Zof'yuvka. She had two brothers and four sisters.

The conversation then turns to her early childhood memories. She studied at a Polish institute before the war. The market-town Zof'yuvka with four synagogues was predominantly Jewish. Every Friday, her family visited the local bath house. The conversation then turns to holiday celebrations and youth movements in prewar Zof'yuvka. Shvardovskaia then talks about her friendship with a Pole who even knows some Hebrew. The discussion returns to youth movements and cultural life before the war.