"Life in the Internment Camps"

by Richard Lidz

Background
In March 1942, three months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government began to gather Japanese-American civilians who lived along the West Coast and move them to internment camps, where they were held until the end of World War II. The wartime government feared sabotage by Japanese sympathizers, but each Japanese-American who was relocated suffered loss of home and income, regardless of strong loyalties they may have had to the U.S. After the war, the U.S. government acknowledged that the internment policies had violated the rights of its victims.

This excerpt from Richard Lidz's oral history reveals the internment camp experiences of James Kazato and Roy Yano. Both speak of the troubling dilemmas of loyalty and injustice that Japanese-Americans were confronted with during the war.

About the Author
Richard Lidz, an author, publisher, and multimedia producer, has published Source Tapes, a collection of historical recordings, and Voices of WWII, a 13-hour audio program on perspectives of the war. His Many Kinds of Courage: An Oral History of World War II (1980) documents the experience of many participants of World War II.

1. Nisei-the people born in the United States of Japanese parents who are American citizens
2. Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster-military personnel injured in action are awarded Purple Hearts; Oak leaf clusters represent multiple Purple Hearts, which go to people who return to action and are injured again.
3. unconstitutional-not in accord with the principles set forth in the constitution of a nation or state
4. acts of conciliation-efforts to regain goodwill
5. aliens-owing political allegiance to another country or government; foreign
6. mangle-a machine for pressing sheets and table linen
7. partition-something that divides or separates, as a wall dividing one room or cubicle from another
8. confiscated-taken by government authority
9. morale-the state of spirits of a person or group as exhibited by confidence, cheerfulness, discipline, and willingness to perform assigned tasks
10. apprehended-arrested

DURING READING

Use the STUDY GUIDE as a way to work through the selection and improve your comprehension of the essay.

AFTER READING

Answer the Questions to Consider questions in the book as a way to develop your understanding of the selection.

1. How are the two accounts similar? How are they different?
2. If you were Roy Yano, would you have volunteered to help in the war effort? Why or why not?
3. Do you think the internment of Japanese-Americans was justified? Why or why not?

Bibliography

Richard Lidz
Many Kinds of Courage: An Oral History of World War II (1980)

World War II
John Armor, Manzanar (1988). An account of the relocation of Japanese-Americans to the first U.S. internment camp, Manzanar, with 300 photos by Ansel Adams.

Winston S. Churchill, The Second World War, 6 volumes (1948-1953). Britain's Prime Minister's vivid account of the war, told through his original notes, directives, and telegrams.

Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The War Against the Jews, 1933-1945 (1975, new ed. 1986). A detailed history of the Nazis' treatment of the Jews during World War II.

John Hersey, Hiroshima (1946). A fictional account of what happened when the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima.

Ernie Pyle, Ernie's War (1986). A famous American war correspondent's dispatches from North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, and the Pacific.

Harrison E. Salisbury, The 900 Days (1969). A journalist's stirring and detailed description of the 900-day siege of Leningrad during Germany's Soviet campaign.

William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1959). An award-winning history of Nazi Germany and the Second World War by a journalist who witnessed much of it.

Ronald Spector, Eagle Against the Sun (1985). A history of the American-Japanese conflict during World War II, including the points of view of those who fought it.

Studs Terkel, The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two (1984). Accounts from Japanese and American soldiers who participated in the war and their perspectives about it.

Paul Joseph Travers, Eyewitness to Infamy: An Oral History of Pearl Harbor (1991). Eyewitness accounts of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and its aftermath.

Donald Vining, editor, American Diaries of World War II (1982). A collection of wartime diaries of Americans who were in all branches of the service and prisoners of war.