Internment Camps:
"We had about one week to dispose of what we owned, except what we could pack and carry for our departure
by bus…for Manzanar." -William Hohri |
"We had always been law-abiding citizens. We had done nothing wrong. And yet, we had now become
prisoners of our own country." -Yoshiko Uchida, former internee |
There were ten internment camps- Manzanar, Poston, Gila River, Tule Lake, Heart Mountain, Granada, Minidoka, Rohwer, Topaz, and Jerome. Executive Order 9066 called for relocation and internment of 120,000 men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry. Though two-thirds were American citizens by birth, any person who was more than 1/8 Japanese was interned.
"I hereby further authorize and direct the Secretary of War and the said Military Commanders to take such other steps as he or the appropriate Military Commander may deem advisable to enforce compliance with the restrictions applicable to each Military area hereinabove [sic] authorized to be designated, including the use of Federal troops and other Federal Agencies, with authority to accept assistance of state and local agencies."
- Executive Order 9066
- Executive Order 9066
The camps were built in remote, arid or semi-arid areas with brutal living conditions. The space was limited; though families weren't separated, they were cramped into small barracks and forced to share with other families. The bathrooms didn't allow for privacy, and the wait was long because internees had to share. Meals were served at specific times during the day, and many people considered the food to be awful, but they still ate it. Joyce Nakamura observed that she "did not like waiting in line to eat and I did not like the food...Many times I refused to take a bite." Children were required to go to school; adults could work for minimal wages. Guards were posted, with orders to shoot anyone who tried to escape.
"In the beginning we were restless because we were incarcerated without any investigation... We had never done anything wrong in our lives."
-Suikei Furuya This video talks about the evacuation of the Japanese Americans to the internment camp.
Despite the conditions, internees found a way to make the camp beautiful. "Six months ago, Manzanar was a barren, uninhabited desert. Today, green lawns, picturesque gardens with miniature mountains... attest to the Japanese people's love of nature..." (Manzanar Free Press, 1942)
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"…one of the hardest things to endure was the communal latrines, with no partitions;
and showers with no stalls." -Rosie Kakuuchi "We stood two hours three times a day with pails in our hands like beggars to receive our meals. There was no hot water, no washing, or bathing. It took about two months, before we lived half way civilized."
-Misao Sakamoto |
"We were close to freedom and yet far from it...
Guards were on duty night and day."
-Mine Okubo
Guards were on duty night and day."
-Mine Okubo