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Mr. Gwynne. Mr. Myer, that was set up entirely by Executive Order?
Mr. Myer. The War Relocation Authority was set up under an
Executive Order of March 18, 1942.
Mr. Gwynne. How did this all get started, inasmuch as no similar
action was taken against the German or Italian people?
Mr. Myer. Except on a limited scale. There was some individual
exclusion but no mass exclusion of Germans and Italians,
Mr. Gwynne. Were those people considered in regard to any possible
claims that they might file?
Mr. Myer. There is no consideration in this particular bill, and
the reason why it was not put in this bill, as far as we are concerned
with the bill when it was drafted originally, was because our responsibility
had to do with mass evacuation of people of Japanese ancestry; and, of
course, there was no mass evacuation of Germans or Italians, and whs re"
there was an evacuation of an individual there -was much more time and care
used in providing the operations to protect their property rights. It came
at a later date and we did insist in some cases upon the request of the
War Department. Those people had an opportunity to look after their
business before they were evacuated from the area. I cannot think that
there were more than 200 or 300 all told on both the East and West Coasts
involving people of other ancestry.
It was anticipated at one stage there might be a more general evacuation and it was discussed by General DeWitt, but by the time they got
around to it, they decided it was not requisite.
Mr. Gwynne. What I am getting at is this; I am not familiar with
the situation on the West Coast. I am from the Mid-West. Why was a
different policy adopted whs re these people were concerned than was
adopted in regard to the Germans and Italians? We had a great number of
Germans and Italians in certain parts of the country, as you know.
Mr. Myer. It was true on the Coast. There were a. great many
Italians up and down the Coast.
I think it was a matter of concern and so there was issued Executive
Order 906, authorizing the Secretary of War to carry out such evacuations
in military areas, and in this particular area it was redelivered to the
commanding general, General DeWitt.
Mr. Gwynne. Was that an order from the President?
Mr. Myer. Yes, sir.
Mr. Gwynne. When was it made?
Mr. Myer. I believe around February 19 or the middle of February,
1942, about a month before the Executive Order establishing the War Relocation Authority. The War Relocation Authority Executive Order was issued
pursuant to the other. I was not in the War .Relocation Authority at the
time because it was not in existence and I came in three months after it
was established, but the fact that it was the West Coast, General De Writt
was greatly concerned with possible attack on the part of the Japanese
Navy and the Japanese and was more concerned with the Japanese population
at that time, and all of his reports and all of the evidence would indicate
that it was his concern,
However, I want to repeat he had some concern regarding the Italians
and the German population and at a later date did take action regarding
individuals. Why it was not taken at the time the other order was issued I
could not go into the details because I was not in touch with it at that
stage.
23.
Object Description
| Title | Hearings and Reports on the Evacuation Claims Bills |
| Description | The Committee on the Judiciary from the House of the Representatives presents a report on the evacuation claims bills. |
| Subjects | Redress and reparations |
| Type | image |
| Genre | Reports |
| Language | eng |
| Collection | Hirasuna Family Papers |
| Collection Description | 111 items |
| Project Name | California State University Japanese American Digitization Project |
| Rights | Rights not yet transferred |
Description
| Local ID | csufr_hfp_1463 |
| Project ID | csufr_hfp_1463 |
| Title | Page 23 |
| Creator | Unknown |
| Date Created | 1947 - 05 - 28 |
| Subjects | Redress and reparations |
| Type | image |
| Genre | Reports |
| Language | eng |
| Collection | Hirasuna Family Papers |
| Collection Description | 8.19 x 13.67in |
| Rights | Rights not yet transferred |
| Transcript | Mr. Gwynne. Mr. Myer, that was set up entirely by Executive Order? Mr. Myer. The War Relocation Authority was set up under an Executive Order of March 18, 1942. Mr. Gwynne. How did this all get started, inasmuch as no similar action was taken against the German or Italian people? Mr. Myer. Except on a limited scale. There was some individual exclusion but no mass exclusion of Germans and Italians, Mr. Gwynne. Were those people considered in regard to any possible claims that they might file? Mr. Myer. There is no consideration in this particular bill, and the reason why it was not put in this bill, as far as we are concerned with the bill when it was drafted originally, was because our responsibility had to do with mass evacuation of people of Japanese ancestry; and, of course, there was no mass evacuation of Germans or Italians, and whs re" there was an evacuation of an individual there -was much more time and care used in providing the operations to protect their property rights. It came at a later date and we did insist in some cases upon the request of the War Department. Those people had an opportunity to look after their business before they were evacuated from the area. I cannot think that there were more than 200 or 300 all told on both the East and West Coasts involving people of other ancestry. It was anticipated at one stage there might be a more general evacuation and it was discussed by General DeWitt, but by the time they got around to it, they decided it was not requisite. Mr. Gwynne. What I am getting at is this; I am not familiar with the situation on the West Coast. I am from the Mid-West. Why was a different policy adopted whs re these people were concerned than was adopted in regard to the Germans and Italians? We had a great number of Germans and Italians in certain parts of the country, as you know. Mr. Myer. It was true on the Coast. There were a. great many Italians up and down the Coast. I think it was a matter of concern and so there was issued Executive Order 906, authorizing the Secretary of War to carry out such evacuations in military areas, and in this particular area it was redelivered to the commanding general, General DeWitt. Mr. Gwynne. Was that an order from the President? Mr. Myer. Yes, sir. Mr. Gwynne. When was it made? Mr. Myer. I believe around February 19 or the middle of February, 1942, about a month before the Executive Order establishing the War Relocation Authority. The War Relocation Authority Executive Order was issued pursuant to the other. I was not in the War .Relocation Authority at the time because it was not in existence and I came in three months after it was established, but the fact that it was the West Coast, General De Writt was greatly concerned with possible attack on the part of the Japanese Navy and the Japanese and was more concerned with the Japanese population at that time, and all of his reports and all of the evidence would indicate that it was his concern, However, I want to repeat he had some concern regarding the Italians and the German population and at a later date did take action regarding individuals. Why it was not taken at the time the other order was issued I could not go into the details because I was not in touch with it at that stage. 23. |
