Japanese American Internment Camps

Discover the history of Japanese American Internment Camps, Executive Order 9066, and the experiences of internees during WWII.

Japanese-American Internment CampsWords to know:Internment camps: A barbed wire fenced in area built by the U.S. government to imprison Japanese Americans during World War II.Ancestry: A persons ancestors who lived a long time ago, or the origin of a persons family.Executive Order: An order from the President of the United States that has the force of a law. Relocated: Japanese Americans were forced to move to a new place.Barracks: A large building in the internment camps in where Japanese American families lived. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States was gripped by war hysteria. This was especially strong along the Pacific coast of the U.S., where residents feared more Japanese attacks on their cities, homes, and businesses.Leaders in California, Oregon, and Washington, demanded that the residents of Japanese ancestry be removed from their homes along the coast and relocated in isolated inland areas. As a result of this pressure, on February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which resulted in the forcible internment of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry. More than two-thirds of those interned under the Executive Order were citizens of the United States, and none had ever shown any disloyalty.The War Relocation Authority was created to administer the relocation centers, and internment camps, and relocation of Japanese-Americans began in April 1942. Internment camps were scattered all over the interior West, in isolated desert areas of Arizona, California, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and Wyoming, where Japanese-Americans were forced to carry on their lives under harsh conditions. Executive Order 9066 was rescinded by President Roosevelt in 1944, and the last of the camps was closed in March 1946. What happened at Pearl Harbor in the United States in December of 1941? There was a tsunami. There was a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during WWII. A volcano erupted on the island. Why did Americans on the west coast demand that residents of Japanese ancestry be removed from their homes, and forced to go to isolated camps? Japanese Internment Camp Numbers Match the numbers on the left, to the correct information on the right. Executive Order 9066 Signed by President Roosevelt, which resulted in the forcible internment of people in the U.S. of Japanese ancestry. 120,000 people The number of Japanese people forced to leave their homes and go to internment camps in the U.S. More than two-thirds The number of those interned under the Executive Order that were citizens of the United States, and had never shown any disloyalty. March, 1946 The date that the last of the Japanese internment camps were closed in the United States. Where in the U.S. were the camps that the Japanese-Americans were relocated (or forced to move) to? Japanese Internment camps in Utah Located in Topaz, Utah, sixteen miles west of Delta, Utah was a large Japanese internment camp. The camp was named for a nearby mountain, Topaz. The area was described as a "barren, sand-choked wasteland." Japanese Americans from the San Francisco area were moved into Topaz in September, 1942.At its peak, Topaz held 9,408 people in the poorly built barracks of tarpaper and wood. Once at the Topaz location, some internees were hired to finish building their own barracks, put up the barbed wire fence, and complete other structures at the site.Two elementary schools, one junior high school, and a hospital constituted the major structures of the camp. Administration buildings, warehouses, military headquarters, and government workers' housing were located along the northern side and the first few blocks of the forty-two-block camp. The remaining blocks were for internee housing. Where was the Topaz Japanese Internment camp located? Japanese-Americans Forced to Leave Their Homes Imagine you were a Japanese-American being forced to leave your home and move to an internment camp. Write a short journal entry about how you feel about the situation. Mary Tsukamoto was one of the Japanese Americans who was forced to leave her home during the war. This is what she said about packing up and moving to the camp.“...I started to gather rice, small sacks of rice and…and collected the packages of dehydrated soup and jello and things that were light, so that they wouldn’t be such a heavy baggage for us to carry because they said you could only take what you could carry. And we knew we had to take blankets and sheets and bedding and things as well as some of our clothes.” Think about all of the objects in your house. Look at the photo of the boys and their suitcases above. If you were forced to leave your home, think about what you would take and what would have to be left behind. Make a list below of things that you would choose to take with you, that would fit in a small suitcase. Can you fill in the blanks about these facts about the Topaz Japanese American Internment Camp? Prior to being taken to Topaz, people were detained in the Tanforan and Santa Anita Race Tracks in California. Many Japanese Americans were forced to live in horse stalls while waiting for Topaz to be completed.The cost to build the camp was $3,929,000.Families were assigned rooms depending on the number of people in the family. The rooms had no running water and were heated by a coal stove.Japanese Americans lived in poor conditions in an arid desert, where temperatures ranged from over 100 degrees in the summer to below zero in the winter.Once at Topaz, internees were hired to work at the camp. Pay ranged from $14 a month for secretaries and janitors to $19 per month for professionals, including medical doctors.On April 11, 1943, James Wakasa, age 63, was shot by a guard when he was standing near the southwest section of the fence. After an outcry from the camp population, guarding procedures changed. Topaz internment camp was opened on September 11, 1942 and closed on October 31, 1945. Life after the Internment Camps The war ended, the fear lifted, the Japanese internees were freed and left to rebuild their lives as best they could.Two main disadvantages they faced were first, many had lost their businesses, jobs and property. After returning from the internment camp it was difficult to find work. Many Japanese Americans homes were taken by others while they were away. The second issue they faced was lingering prejudice. Japanese Americans faced housing and employment discrimination and some store owners wouldn't allow them in their shops. Despite losses in property, businesses, homes, and communities, most Japanese Americans, in time, rebuilt their lives.In 1976 the Japanese American Citizen League chapters from Salt Lake City erected a monument near the site of the Topaz camp. On August 10, 1988 President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act authorizing redress, and later President George H.W. Bush issued a formal apology and compensation of $20,000 to those who were survivors of internment. What were difficulties that Japanese Americans faced after they returned from the internment camps? Why Does this Matter Today? Understanding the history of Japanese Internment Camps offers opportunities for difficult conversation and raises important questions, like:How does a democracy weigh individual rights against national security?Who is considered a “real” American?Does this change during times of fear?What is our responsibility to citizens and immigrants who are denied their constitutional rights?Keeping memories of the incarceration alive also gives Americans the power—and responsibility—to speak out when other groups are unfairly targeted. Why do you think it is important to remember difficult stories in history, like the Japanese American Interment Camps?