Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II

This is sort of like a coffee-table book in size. It's a very well done book with a lot of photos and, of course, lots of information. I'll point out a few things that I thought most interesting:

The Nisei children tended to study hard and do well in school but they were still objects of prejudice (probably from both their mixed race heritage and, as often happens, good students who are serious in school end up getting bullied by others who don't take their studies seriously.)

Reference is given to one person who heard some women at the time saying they should take "all the Japs" and shoot them.

Hoover thought that the demand for mass evacuation was based on hysteria. The FBI itself said that the people of Japanese ancestry were fundamentally loyal and, as a group, did not pose any threat to the United States.

The Governor of Colorado was against the internment camps.

Part of FDR's decision to intern the people of Japanese ancestry was based on politics and concern about being re-elected.

When asked why they were so passive about the internment, some internees said everything happened too quickly and they were afraid for their lives.

During the train transportation to the internment camps shades were kept down. One concern was that some of the people who watched the train go buy might throw rocks at it if they knew who it was carrying.

The Army tried to hinder the work of photographer Dorothea Lange.

There was a severe shortage of doctors and nurses at the camps.

The 442nd, the Japanese American division, was not allowed to enter Rome first even though they got there first. Some people believed it was because the military wanted a white division to enter Rome first.

Around a hundred Nisei women volunteered for the Women's Army Corps.

More than 5000 Japanese American linguists were involved in the occupation of Japan.

Over 1800 people died in the internment camps (all but a few of those, though, due to natural causes.)



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