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DeWitt's detention orders were ostensibly for the purpose of protecting the West Coast against sabotage and espionage, but babies, orphans, adopted children, the infirm and bedridden elderly were also imprisoned. Children of multiple ancestry were included if they had any Japanese ancestry at all. Colonel Karl Bendetsen, who directly administered the program, stated: "I am determined that if they have one drop of Japanese blood in them, they must go to camp." Non-Japanese spouses, adoptive parents, and orphanage directors were forced to surrender their children for incarceration or enter the camp themselves. The only exceptions were for those confined in prisons or asylums, and the few adults with 1/32 or less Japanese ancestry who could prove they had no contact whatsoever with other persons of Japanese ancestry. There were 15 temporary detention camps scattered throughout Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington. They were mostly county fairgrounds, race tracks, and livestock exhibition halls hastily converted into detention camps with barbed wire fences, search lights and guard towers. Each camp held about 5,000 detainees, except for the Santa Anita Race Track near Los Angeles which held over 18,000 and Mayer, Arizona which held only 247. Living quarters consisted of horse stalls, some with manure still inside. Japanese Americans had to leave their homes with only a few days notice and could take only what they could carry with them. Property had to be hurriedly sold, abandoned, given away, left in insecure storage or unpredictable trusts. Crops were left unharvested. Many lost titles to homes, businesses and farmlands because taxes and mortgage payments became impossible to pay. Bank accounts had already been frozen or confiscated as "enemy assets," and there was little source of income within the camps. The incarceration of Japanese Americans was accomplished district by district over a five month period. DeWitt methodically issued detention orders almost daily, each applying to a new locale. As the orders progressed through the Eastern half of California, Japanese Americans in the Eastern halves of Oregon and \ / Washington fully expected their turn would be next. They stripped their possessions down to the bare essentials that they could carry, just as the others had been required to do. They lived day to day unsettled under the constant threat of imminent proscription, but the actual detention orders never came. Government actions also encouraged private harassment: for example, in one town outside the official expulsion area, the entire Japanese American community was boycotted and forced to leave town. In June 1942 the U.S. Navy won a decisive victory at the Battle of Midway and the tide of war shifted in favor of the United States. Japan was no longer militarily capable of attacking the West Coast, or even Hawaii. The U.S. government and military were aware of this fact, but they relentlessly went ahead with plans to build permanent mass detention facilities in the interior desert and swamp regions. At great cost and despite the critical shortage of materials, the government built 10 mass detention camps in the isolated areas of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. The vast majority of Japanese Americans were moved from the temporary detention camps near their hometowns to the permanent camps several hundred miles away after the threat of invasion had vanished. Each of the permanent camps held some 12,000 Japanese Americans, and a total of about 120,000 Japanese Americans were ultimately detained. The inland camps were located in desolate areas and were surrounded by a high barbed wire fence, sometimes two such fences, sometimes electrified. Guard towers were placed at strategic intervals, and any Japanese American leaving without permission was shot. Dozens of detainees and internees were shot and wounded, and eight were killed by guards (1 at Central Utah, 1 at Gila River, 2 at Manzanar, 1 at Tule Lake, 2 at Lordsburg, 1 at Fort Sill). Living quarters were crowded and there was no privacy. Large extended families or groups of unrelated individuals were squeezed into tiny unpartitioned 16 x 20 feet units. 14 15
Object Description
Title | The Japanese American Incarceration: A Case For Redress |
Description | The JACL presents a booklet that argues the case for redress. |
Subjects | World War II--Japanese American Citizen League activities |
Type | image |
Genre | Booklet |
Language | eng |
Collection | Hirasuna Family Papers |
Collection Description | 16 items |
Project Name | California State University Japanese American Digitization Project |
Rights | Rights not yet transferred |
Description
Local ID | csufr_hfp_1057 |
Project ID | csufr_hfp_1057 |
Title | Page 14 / 15 |
Creator | JACL |
Date Created | 1978 - 06 - 00 |
Subjects | World War II--Japanese American Citizen League activities |
Type | image |
Genre | Booklet |
Language | eng |
Collection | Hirasuna Family Papers |
Collection Description | 10.85 x 8.41in |
Rights | Rights not yet transferred |
Transcript | DeWitt's detention orders were ostensibly for the purpose of protecting the West Coast against sabotage and espionage, but babies, orphans, adopted children, the infirm and bedridden elderly were also imprisoned. Children of multiple ancestry were included if they had any Japanese ancestry at all. Colonel Karl Bendetsen, who directly administered the program, stated: "I am determined that if they have one drop of Japanese blood in them, they must go to camp." Non-Japanese spouses, adoptive parents, and orphanage directors were forced to surrender their children for incarceration or enter the camp themselves. The only exceptions were for those confined in prisons or asylums, and the few adults with 1/32 or less Japanese ancestry who could prove they had no contact whatsoever with other persons of Japanese ancestry. There were 15 temporary detention camps scattered throughout Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington. They were mostly county fairgrounds, race tracks, and livestock exhibition halls hastily converted into detention camps with barbed wire fences, search lights and guard towers. Each camp held about 5,000 detainees, except for the Santa Anita Race Track near Los Angeles which held over 18,000 and Mayer, Arizona which held only 247. Living quarters consisted of horse stalls, some with manure still inside. Japanese Americans had to leave their homes with only a few days notice and could take only what they could carry with them. Property had to be hurriedly sold, abandoned, given away, left in insecure storage or unpredictable trusts. Crops were left unharvested. Many lost titles to homes, businesses and farmlands because taxes and mortgage payments became impossible to pay. Bank accounts had already been frozen or confiscated as "enemy assets," and there was little source of income within the camps. The incarceration of Japanese Americans was accomplished district by district over a five month period. DeWitt methodically issued detention orders almost daily, each applying to a new locale. As the orders progressed through the Eastern half of California, Japanese Americans in the Eastern halves of Oregon and \ / Washington fully expected their turn would be next. They stripped their possessions down to the bare essentials that they could carry, just as the others had been required to do. They lived day to day unsettled under the constant threat of imminent proscription, but the actual detention orders never came. Government actions also encouraged private harassment: for example, in one town outside the official expulsion area, the entire Japanese American community was boycotted and forced to leave town. In June 1942 the U.S. Navy won a decisive victory at the Battle of Midway and the tide of war shifted in favor of the United States. Japan was no longer militarily capable of attacking the West Coast, or even Hawaii. The U.S. government and military were aware of this fact, but they relentlessly went ahead with plans to build permanent mass detention facilities in the interior desert and swamp regions. At great cost and despite the critical shortage of materials, the government built 10 mass detention camps in the isolated areas of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. The vast majority of Japanese Americans were moved from the temporary detention camps near their hometowns to the permanent camps several hundred miles away after the threat of invasion had vanished. Each of the permanent camps held some 12,000 Japanese Americans, and a total of about 120,000 Japanese Americans were ultimately detained. The inland camps were located in desolate areas and were surrounded by a high barbed wire fence, sometimes two such fences, sometimes electrified. Guard towers were placed at strategic intervals, and any Japanese American leaving without permission was shot. Dozens of detainees and internees were shot and wounded, and eight were killed by guards (1 at Central Utah, 1 at Gila River, 2 at Manzanar, 1 at Tule Lake, 2 at Lordsburg, 1 at Fort Sill). Living quarters were crowded and there was no privacy. Large extended families or groups of unrelated individuals were squeezed into tiny unpartitioned 16 x 20 feet units. 14 15 |