Japanese American Internment Camps

1
Japanese American Internment Camps

• 10 Camps in operation from
• 1942-1646

2
Japanese Internment Camps

• After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7,
  1941, Americans became extremely suspicious of
  people with Japanese ancestry and thought that
  they would exploit the American government

3
Japanese Internment Camps

• Americans were paranoid and suffered from wartime
  anxiety
• most Japanese at the time lived in California in
  towns called Little Tokyo- the constituted only
  2 of the population and were mainly fisherman,
  small shopkeepers, and held agricultural
  positions (they lived at poverty level)

4
Japanese Internment Camps

• FEB. 19, 1942 Executive Order 9066- allowed
  enemy aliens to be placed in relocation
  camps- though this term applied to Japanese,
  Italians and Germans, only Japanese were interned
  (FDR called this camps concentration camps on
  several times)

5
Japanese Internment Camps

• MARCH 18, 1942 FDR signs Executive Order 9102-
  established the War Relocation Authority (WRA)
  under Milton Eisenhower who later resigned
  (Dillon Myer took his place)

6
Japanese Internment Camps

• The WRA was given 5.5 million dollars in funding
  for the camps
• Between AUGUST- SEPTEMBER 1942 the first inmates
  arrive at several different camps

7
The Camps
8
Japanese Internment Camps

• Most of the 110,000 persons removed for reasons
  of national security were school age children,
  infants and young adults not yet of voting age
• In the detention centers, families lived in
  substandard housing, had inadequate nutrition and
  health care, and had their livelihoods destroyed
  many continued to suffer psychologically long
  after their release

9
Camp Quotes

• At Santa Fe there were 7,700 people crowded
  into space designed for 5,000. They were housed
  in mess halls, recreation halls, and even
  latrines. As many as 25 person lived in a space
  intended for 4.

10
Camp Quotes

• In desert camps, the evacuees met severe
  extremes of temperature. In winter in reached 35
  degrees below zero, and summer brought
  temperatures as high as 115 degrees.
  Rattlesnakes and desert wildlife added danger to
  discomfort.

11
Camp Quotes

• When we first arrived at the Santa Fe camp,
  everyone was forced to use outhouses since the
  sewer system had not been built. For about 1
  year, the residents had to brace the cold and
  stench of these accomodations

12
Conditions at the Camps
13
More Images at the Camps
14
Japanese Men in WWII

• Later on into the war, Americans realized that
  Japanese-Americans could be used as secret
  weapons
• Japanese speaking individuals translated captured
  Japanese documents and monitored radio traffic

• Attended Military Intelligence Specialist School
  and eagerly enlisted in the military
• By Dec. 1944, 1500 Japanese men had enlisted in
  the 442nd regimental Combat Team

15
The End of the Camps

• JUNE 30, 1944 Jerome, AR is the first camp to
  close
• the rest close over a period of 2 years (Tule
  Lake, CA being the last in 1946)
• AUG 6, 1945 atomic bombs are dropped and war
  ends
• JULY 2, 1948 Pres. Truman signs Japanese
  American Evacuation Claims Act to compensate for
  economic losses- largely ineffective
• AUG 10, 1988- Civil Liberties Act of 1988 signed
  by Reagan

16
Long Term Health Consequences

• Psychological anguish
• inmates had a 2.1 greater risk of cardiovascular
  disease
• alteration of attitudes
• low self- esteem
• sad and angry over the injustices
• pressure to assimilate

• Loss of Japanese culture and language
• most Sansei still felt that the internment of
  their parents directly affected their lives and
  led to several negative feelings toward Americans