Witnify Blog

Japanese American Internment Camps Photo Gallery: Japanese American Internment Camps

mbirck — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 22:12:35 +0000

In 1942, following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II, the U.S. government began to place over 110,000 Japanese-Americans in "War Relocation Camps"–due to public concerns over the loyalty of these citizens. President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 that would allow the exclusion of people with Japanese ancestry to reside on the Pacific coast. Persons of Japanese ancestry in these "exclusion zones" were placed in relocation centers. German-Americans and Italian-Americans were also placed in relocation camps–sometimes sharing the same facilities as Japanese-Americans.

Years later, President Jimmy Carter's 1980 Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) reached a decision that these internment camps were not justified and the U.S. government paid reparations to survivors. Finally in 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed into law an apology for these decisions and "failure of political leadership."

Scroll through our gallery below:

[slideshow gallery_id='2']

Japanese American Internment Camps Albert Bunji Ikeda Recalls the Japanese American Internment Camps

erica — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 17:18:59 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hztlh_-XbR4?rel=0

Albert Bunji Ikeda, a third-generation Japanese American, recalls why his ancestors came to the United States from Japan and how he experienced racism during the second World War. After Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt put out an executive order forcing all Japanese Americans, citizens or not, into internment camps.

Japanese American Internment Camps George Takei Shares His Experience: ‘It Was a Dark Chapter in American History’

erica — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 17:14:01 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUrpIFp7EMA?rel=0

Actor George Takei recalls what it was like to be taken from his home and forced to live in the Japanese internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Starting in 1942, over 110,000 Japanese Americans were rounded up into internment camps, called "War Relocation Camps".