Contributor: Suzanne Riordan. Lesson ID: 13974
Reporting the news is not just for journalists. You do it every day! Chances are, you use both first-hand and second-hand accounts in your reporting. Not sure what those are? Find out here!
Many people do. We are all, in our own way, reporters.
Even little children like to act as reporters. Watch the video below to see two preschoolers discuss Christmas.
When you watch a news story, you probably don't think much about what went into creating it. But they had to investigate before the reporter could write that story.
They might question the citizens involved in the event or talk to an official, such as a police officer.
The two perspectives on the event — the citizen's and the police officer's — are good examples of first-hand and second-hand accounts.
First-hand accounts can give more of an up-close look at the events. They are the stories of the people who actually experienced the event.
First-hand accounts . . .
Here are some examples.
Second-hand accounts . . .
Here are some examples.
Now you'll read some examples of first- and second-hand accounts. Both of the following passages are about people who came to America from Europe during World War II.
The first is a news story about the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, NY. The second is an essay from a refugee who came to New York during that time.
New York's World War II Refugee Camp
When Nazi Germany took over Austria in 1938, thousands of German and Austrian Jews decided to leave and go to America. However, there was a long waiting list to get in, and many were at risk of being unable to leave Europe.
Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau brought the issue to the attention of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The president wanted to help, so he announced that an army camp in Oswego, NY, would be turned into a shelter for refugees.
Because many Americans were against allowing more Germans and Austrians into the country, the president said that they would not be considered immigrants, but guests who would go back home when the war was over.
The first group of refugees arrived at Fort Ontario in Oswego, near Lake Ontario, in August of 1944. Over the next year, almost 1000 people would come to the camp, most of them Jews.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited the camp in September of 1944. She was concerned about the future of the refugees. Some had written to her, explaining that they were not allowed to leave the camp, even if they had relatives to go to. They could not even go into the town. The camp was surrounded by barbed wire and felt like a prison.
When the war ended in 1945, many refugees wanted to stay in the United States. The camp was closed in 1946, and the refugees had to find new homes. Some were permitted to stay, while others returned to Europe, and the remainder went to the new Jewish state of Israel.
Now read an essay written by a student who lived in the camp.
Ralph Kuznitzki was a 15-year-old refugee who fled the war in Germany. He was allowed to attend high school in Oswego and wrote this composition for an English assignment.
The Flower and I
The fresh and rather cold morning breeze blew directly in my face, making my ears and the tip of my nose, red. I had passed the houses which protected me against it, and now I was crossing a wet lawn. I hurried to pass it. But when I arrived at the next block of houses, I noticed that a small part of it had come along with me. It was stuck in my shoe, that small flower. After having picked it up, I was about to throw it away, when I suddenly came to think of a strange fact. How greatly likely was the flower’s life with mine! It may be a stupid idea, but there is something true in it.
Born far away, it stayed in its calm life only for a short time. Where was it born? I don’t know. It didn’t answer me when I asked it. In its youngest years the wind of nature brought it, and the tornado of Nazis brought me, away from our mother place. Many things we saw, we passed many strange spots on this earth, I imagine. Then comes the difference between our lives. After a long time it found its place, to settle down, to stay for life, till the cruel feet of a boy came to take it away. I found a place too, but will this place be my fatherland, my place where I can settle down, develop and finally -- die? I hope so, because I like it and feel the liberty which is here, as the medicine for my illness. The illness of terror and loss of freedom. And then when the foot of bones will strike me, I’ll be satisfied with my life and my work.
The shrill blast of the sirens awoke me from my dreams. I didn’t throw the flower away. I kept it, and now it hangs on the wall of my room. It is a symbol of hope for a home for myself and a fatherland for me and my future children.
Ralph Kuznitski
Think about these questions.
Of course, not all first- and second-hand accounts have the same features, but many first-hand accounts give more personal thoughts and feelings. Many second-hand accounts give more of an overview of the topic, with facts, names, and dates.
Move to the Got It? section now!