1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in history class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy B. Wilson Fry. Today we are picking up 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: the second part of a two parter, so if you 5 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: have not heard our previous episode, I strongly recommend getting 6 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: into that one before you get into this one. President 7 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order ninety six on February nine, 8 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: and this paved the way for Japanese Americans to be 9 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: removed from the Pacific coast on mass and incarcerated in 10 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: camps for the duration of World War Two. Last time, 11 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: we talked about the history of Japanese immigration into the 12 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 1: United States and how the US arrived at deciding that 13 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: needed to plan a mass removal. This time we will 14 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: talk about the executive order, what happened in the camps, 15 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: and then what happened after the war was over. Following 16 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 1: the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U. S. War Department 17 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:11,399 Speaker 1: in particular began to advocate for aggressive action to eliminate 18 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 1: the potential for espionage, sabotage, and anti americannectivity on the 19 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:20,119 Speaker 1: part of the Japanese population. Its recommendation was a wide 20 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: scale effort of removal and incarceration. Just to recap the 21 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:26,400 Speaker 1: thing that we said at the top of part one, 22 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 1: Japanese nationals were not the only people targeted by this. 23 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:35,479 Speaker 1: They're also Germans and Italians who were incarcerated as well. 24 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,040 Speaker 1: There were millions and millions of people in the United 25 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: States of German or Italian ancestry. There's no possible way 26 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: to in turn them all, and no effort for any 27 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: kind of wide scale in tournament of Germans and Italians. Uh. 28 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: And occasionally we will get notes and people suggesting that 29 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: there was there was really not. A key architect of 30 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: the removal UH of Japanese Americans from the West Coast 31 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:11,239 Speaker 1: was Carl Benditson. His background was kind of deceptive. Uh. 32 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 1: He was the He was the son of Jewish immigrants 33 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: who basically changed his name and made up that he 34 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: was a immigrant from Denmark so that he could get 35 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: into an exclusive fraternity when he was in school. Like, 36 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: there was a lot of shadiness in his background, and 37 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 1: he was in this case working as a strategist. He 38 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: formulated the basic concept of how an executive order could 39 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 1: get around the many many unconstitutional aspects of incarcerating American 40 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: citizens without due process based on their nationality. There are 41 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: a lot of ways in which that entire idea is flatly, 42 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: unquestionably unconstitutional. So instead of conceiving this as an order 43 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: targeting Japanese Americans, he instead framed it as a need 44 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,639 Speaker 1: to set up zones to be placed under military jurisdiction 45 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:12,680 Speaker 1: from which any and all persons could be evacuated. He 46 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: also recommended a three step process to setting this up. 47 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: There would be an executive order that would give the 48 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:22,080 Speaker 1: Secretary of War authority to do it, there would be 49 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,959 Speaker 1: establishment of the military zones themselves, and there would be 50 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: a provision for removing persons from within these zones. The 51 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: only persons really being targeted here, even though it never 52 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:41,119 Speaker 1: said specifically, we're Japanese Americans. At first, the recommended military 53 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: zones were imagined as small, specific areas around vulnerable targets 54 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: like bridges, power plants, and military pieces, but during discussions 55 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: leading up to the actual drafting of the executive order, 56 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: they grew. Whole cities were named as potential zones, then 57 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: whole regions. Soon it's the entire length of the West Coast, 58 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: which was also where nearly all Japanese Americans were living 59 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: apart from Hawaii. Yeah, there were only a very few 60 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: Japanese Americans living anywhere in the United States other than 61 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: the West Coast in Hawaii. On February seventeenth of ninety two, 62 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: President Franklin Roosevelt told Harry L. Stimpson, the Secretary of War, 63 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: and John McCloy, the Assistant Secretary of War, to draft 64 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: an executive order to get all this accomplished, and he 65 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: specifically directed them not to involve Attorney General Francis Biddle, who, 66 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,279 Speaker 1: as we noted in Part one, regarded a mass incarceration 67 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: as unconstitutional from several angles. Biddle would wind up finding 68 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: out about this only upon seeing the final approved draft, 69 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: after which point he sent one more memo to the President. 70 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: He's stressed that distrust of the Japanese and a desire 71 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: to take over their now successful farmland, not national security, 72 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,480 Speaker 1: was really what was driving this push for a removal. 73 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 1: The end result of all this was Executive Order six, 74 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: which was titled Authorizing the Secretary of War to Prescribe 75 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: Military Areas. It's superseded previous proclamations made by the Attorney General, 76 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,359 Speaker 1: who had raised so many objections to the plan, and 77 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,920 Speaker 1: instead granted authority to the Secretary of War. The order 78 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: are authorized the Secretary of War and military commanders that 79 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: he designated, quote, to prescribe military areas in such places 80 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: and of such extent as he or the appropriate military 81 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: commander may determine, from which any or all persons may 82 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,159 Speaker 1: be excluded, and with respect to which the right of 83 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: any person who enter, remain in, or leave shall be 84 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:52,800 Speaker 1: subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary of War or the 85 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:58,039 Speaker 1: appropriate military commander may impose in his discretion. The Secretary 86 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: of War and the military commanders were also authorized to 87 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 1: take whatever steps they thought were appropriate to ensure compliance 88 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 1: with these exclusion zones. The order specified that the government 89 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: would quote provide for residents of any such area who 90 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:18,680 Speaker 1: are excluded therefrom such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations 91 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: as maybe necessary. It authorized all executive departments of the 92 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: government to assist the Secretary of War and military commanders 93 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: with this effort. The executive Order did not have its 94 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,480 Speaker 1: own enforcement provisions. These came in the form of Public 95 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:36,919 Speaker 1: Law five oh three, which was also drafted by the 96 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: War Department and introduced to the Senate on March nine. 97 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:43,039 Speaker 1: It was introduced to the House of Representative on March tenth, 98 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: and it was signed into law on March twenty one. 99 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 1: Public Law five oh three was quote to provide a 100 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:54,479 Speaker 1: penalty for violation of restrictions or orders with respect to 101 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: persons entering, remaining, in, leaving, or committing any act in 102 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,359 Speaker 1: military areas or zones. It's set a fine of up 103 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: to five thousand dollars and imprisonment of up to a 104 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 1: year for each offensive, entering, leaving, or committing any act 105 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: in a military zone established under the executive Order. Roosevelt 106 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: signed another Executive Order number O two, quote, establishing the 107 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: War Relocation Authority in the Executive Office of the President 108 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: and defining its functions and duties on March eighteenth. The 109 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: War Relocation Authority was the civilian agency that was responsible 110 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: for creating and maintaining the camps that would house the 111 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: people who were removed. Under the terms of Executive Order 112 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 1: ninety six, the War Relocation Authority was part of the 113 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: Office for Emergency Management. Executive Order n O two would 114 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: also quote provide insofar as feasible and desirable, for the 115 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: employment of such persons at useful work in industry, commerce, agriculture, 116 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: or public projects, prescribe the terms and conditions of such 117 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: public employment, and safeguard the public interest in the private 118 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: employment of such persons. There were also other acts and 119 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: laws that were connected to all of this as well, 120 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: but these two executive orders and public Law five oh 121 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: three were the primary ones involved with establishing the authority 122 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: to remove people, enforcing that removal order, and relocating and 123 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: housing the people who were removed, in some cases also 124 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: giving them work to do. If you begin with the 125 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: point of view that the government can be trusted to 126 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 1: see to the best interests of its citizens and residents, 127 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 1: and to be clear, that is not what was going 128 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: on here, this might sound somewhat innocuous. It was basically 129 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:42,840 Speaker 1: saying that the Secretary of War and his designated military 130 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: commanders could set up evacuation zones for the sake of 131 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:50,079 Speaker 1: national safety and security. The Pacific Coast, for example, was 132 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: considered high risk given how easily Japan could reach it, 133 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:55,959 Speaker 1: and if your home was deemed to be in an 134 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: exclusion zone and you had to leave, the government would 135 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:02,080 Speaker 1: have to provide you with food and shelter. It was 136 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: all framed out as being a military necessity, and most 137 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 1: government communications on the mattern used euphemistic terms like assembly 138 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: point and relocation center and evacuation as though this entire 139 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: removal plan was for people's own protection. It's deceptively normal 140 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: seeming when you read it, and during peacetime it certainly 141 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: would have raised a huge outcry. It clearly gave the 142 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: government a very, very broad authority to deprive people of 143 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: their rights to privacy and property and to process and 144 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:43,560 Speaker 1: the constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure under the 145 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: Fourth Amendment, just as a few examples. But in a 146 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,439 Speaker 1: time of war, especially given that the attack on Pearl 147 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,360 Speaker 1: Harbor had been such a devastating shock only a couple 148 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: of months before, it was deceptively easy, especially for people 149 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: not actually affected by this order, to read it as 150 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: common sense. For the sake of national security, certain parts 151 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:08,319 Speaker 1: of the nation needed to be evacuated, and for anyone evacuated, 152 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: the government would see to their care in housing. This 153 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: sounds so reasonable in theory. Yeah, And of course there 154 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 1: were also people who were in favor of it, who 155 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:24,360 Speaker 1: were motivated not by a sense of national security or safety, 156 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: but by greed for the farmland and the property that 157 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 1: we're going to have to be abandoned. Another factor was 158 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 1: definitely prejudice, and there were all manner of other issues 159 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 1: involved that had zero to do with national security. And also, 160 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:45,320 Speaker 1: in spite of all the very rational sounding language in this, 161 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: it was not an evacuation to a relocation center. It 162 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:55,560 Speaker 1: was a forced removal to a concentration camp. And we 163 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,080 Speaker 1: are going to talk about that actual removal after we 164 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: first pause and take a little break in here from 165 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:09,120 Speaker 1: one of the sponsors that keeps this show going. The 166 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: first step to executing Executive Order NINETI sixty six was 167 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: a recommendation that anyone of Japanese descent leave the established 168 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:22,440 Speaker 1: military areas voluntarily. And these military areas has banned the 169 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: whole West coast. But since enemy aliens, again, that's just 170 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: people who were citizens of a country at war with 171 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:34,880 Speaker 1: the place that they were living. Since enemy aliens assets 172 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:37,120 Speaker 1: had all been frozen, that meant most people just did 173 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: not have the means to do it, even if they 174 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:41,559 Speaker 1: wanted to. Their assets were frozen, they had no way 175 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: to fund a trip anywhere. Some who did try to 176 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: leave voluntarily also encountered violent resistance on the part of 177 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: white residents in the places they tried to go, so 178 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: they were forced to turn back and return to their homes. 179 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: A forced removal followed. Thanks to the ninety census, which 180 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:01,440 Speaker 1: had been handed over to the Army and the FBI 181 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 1: for this purpose, officials knew where nearly all Japanese residents 182 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 1: were living. The first mass removal was from Terminal Island 183 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 1: in the Port of Los Angeles, which was owned by 184 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:15,520 Speaker 1: the military, beginning on February. The first mass removal from 185 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: a civilian location was from Bainbridge Island, Washington, in March. 186 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:24,080 Speaker 1: Throughout the duration of the removal, which would span about 187 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,560 Speaker 1: six months from when it started until everyone being out 188 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:31,760 Speaker 1: of the Pacific Coast, Japanese Americans on the West Coast 189 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:35,200 Speaker 1: were placed under a curfew as well as movement restrictions. 190 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 1: Eventually there would be a hundred and eight individual exclusion orders, 191 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: each of them targeting about a thousand people. For the 192 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:48,319 Speaker 1: most part, both first and second generation Japanese Americans cooperated 193 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: with the removal. Some of this was an attempt to 194 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: demonstrate their loyalty to the United States. Many in the 195 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: Japanese community had vocally denounced the Japanese bombing of Pearl 196 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:02,360 Speaker 1: Harbor and invase of other nations in Asia and the Pacific, 197 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: and they had expressed their support to the United States too. 198 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: Many doing as the government asked in this removal would 199 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: be another way to show that they were true Americans, 200 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: regardless of whether they were citizens and regardless of their 201 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:20,319 Speaker 1: Japanese ancestry. Some of this was also cultural. Japanese concepts 202 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: of bearing difficult circumstances with dignity UH and a concept 203 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 1: known as shakeda guy night or it can't be helped 204 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:32,320 Speaker 1: come up repeatedly in accounts of how people on an 205 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,960 Speaker 1: individual basis and within their communities dealt with this removal. 206 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: Once the removal order came, people had an average of 207 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 1: six days to prepare, although sometimes it was as little 208 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:45,080 Speaker 1: as one. They were told to bring only what they 209 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:47,880 Speaker 1: could carry, but they were also required to bring their 210 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:53,200 Speaker 1: own linens, clothing, toiletries, in the like. Before leaving, many 211 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:58,200 Speaker 1: Japanese Americans tried to liquidate their property. Some were able 212 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:00,760 Speaker 1: to sell their homes and their property if they had 213 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: stores they had closed out sales for their stock, but 214 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:07,120 Speaker 1: because they had so little time, many had to sell 215 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,080 Speaker 1: their property for much much less than it was worth. 216 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: Those who owned farms often tried to negotiate with their 217 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:16,559 Speaker 1: neighbors to see their crops while they were gone, which 218 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,160 Speaker 1: in some cases this worked out and in others did not. 219 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: The only actual sabotage conviction of a Japanese American stemming 220 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,560 Speaker 1: from all of this time was a farmer who plowed 221 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: under his strawberry crop because he had not been allowed 222 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,120 Speaker 1: to harvest it before being sent to a camp. As 223 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 1: people were leaving, salvage companies used furniture salesmen and others 224 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 1: made the rounds, offering to buy people's possessions and generally 225 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 1: offering just pitifully small amounts of money for them. Some 226 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: who didn't sell, hoping to return home, eventually had their 227 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: homes looted after they were gone. Others destroyed their possessions, 228 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,120 Speaker 1: sometimes in front of the people offering them insulting lye 229 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:02,640 Speaker 1: small amounts of money a rather than sell them. The 230 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 1: Coast Guard also requisition boats left in the docks after 231 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: their owners were removed so that they could use them 232 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 1: in the war effort. As people were removed, they were 233 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: first sent to temporary assembly points that served as basically 234 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: a place to gather large numbers of people from different places, 235 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 1: before then moving them on to a more permanent camp. 236 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: A lot of these were places like race tracks and 237 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: horse stables and other facilities that were not really meant 238 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:34,119 Speaker 1: for housing people. For example, over the course of the removal, 239 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:38,320 Speaker 1: eighteen thousand, five hundred people were housed at the Santa 240 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: Anita race Track, including in the horse stalls, is actually 241 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: where George Decay and his family were housed. Immediately after 242 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:50,360 Speaker 1: their removal from the assembly point, people were transported by 243 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 1: train with the curtains closed so they could not see 244 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 1: where they were going to one of ten relocation centers, 245 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 1: better known as internment camps and more accurately known as 246 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: centration camps. These were scattered in remote areas in Wyoming, California, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, 247 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: and Arkansas. For the most part, these camps themselves were 248 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: built on land that the government already owned, which was 249 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: often less than ideal for human habitation. It included things 250 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: like dry lake beds, lava fields, deserts, and swamps. Native 251 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 1: American reservation land was also used. The camps were hastily 252 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:32,280 Speaker 1: built military style housing with communal mess halls and blocks 253 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 1: of tar paper barracks. They were surrounded by barbed wire 254 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 1: with armed guards and searchlights. Even though the plan was 255 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: to put people in these camps for a long term stay, 256 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: there had not really been a lot of thought put 257 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,560 Speaker 1: into maintaining the needs of communities with things like schools 258 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: or houses of worship. People who were incarcerated there basically 259 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:57,120 Speaker 1: had to take care of those things themselves. No one 260 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: of Japanese ancestry was exempt from the removal Included in 261 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,880 Speaker 1: the order sick people in hospitals who were kept under 262 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 1: guard until they were either well enough to be removed 263 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:12,639 Speaker 1: or until they died. Children including children living in orphanages 264 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: who quote looked at Japanese Japanese children that had been 265 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:23,200 Speaker 1: adopted by white parents, Persons with severe disabilities. Seventeen thousand 266 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: of those removed were children under ten years old, two 267 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: thousand were over sixty five years old, and one thousand 268 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:35,440 Speaker 1: were disabled or very ill. One exception to the removal 269 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 1: order was Hawaii. It was not yet a state. At 270 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:44,360 Speaker 1: about a hundred and seventy five thousand people, Hawaii's Japanese 271 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: population was too large to just incarcerat, and many were 272 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 1: working in industries that were critical to the war effort, 273 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:54,760 Speaker 1: including carpenters, who were needed to help rebuild the base 274 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:59,280 Speaker 1: at Pearl Harbor. While some Japanese Americans in Hawaii were 275 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:03,159 Speaker 1: deemed i risk and incarcerated, most were instead subject to 276 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: curfews and movement restrictions, and were banned from deep sea fishing. 277 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: And all of this was done without due process and 278 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:15,720 Speaker 1: with no opportunity for appeal. The camps were fenced and guarded, 279 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 1: and the people incarcerated there could not leave, unable to 280 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: work or pay their bills. Many of those incarcerated lost 281 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:27,640 Speaker 1: their jobs, homes, and possessions. Additionally, many of the states 282 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: that were home to these camps were fiercely opposed to 283 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: Japanese prisoners being sent there. Wyoming Senator Nel Smith insisted 284 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: that the state would not be California's quote dumping ground, 285 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,680 Speaker 1: and said, quote, if you bring Japanese into my state, 286 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:46,679 Speaker 1: I promise you they will be hanging from every tree. 287 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:51,160 Speaker 1: Governor Herbert maw of Utah argued that the constitution should 288 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: be changed because, quote, if these people are dangerous on 289 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:59,040 Speaker 1: the Pacific Coast, they will be dangerous here. Even in 290 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,199 Speaker 1: the face of in my backyard style opposition to the 291 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:06,639 Speaker 1: camps themselves, the general public was overwhelmingly in favor of 292 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:10,359 Speaker 1: the removal, and continued to see the Japanese community as 293 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 1: a real threat even after they had been removed. In 294 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 1: December of nineteen forty two, a year after the bombing 295 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:19,840 Speaker 1: of Pearl Harbor and about ten months after the signing 296 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:23,720 Speaker 1: of Executive Order ninety sixty six, a Gallop Pole found 297 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:27,720 Speaker 1: that forty eight percent of Americans believed the Japanese detainees 298 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,440 Speaker 1: should not be allowed to return home after the war. 299 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:34,160 Speaker 1: Half believed they should be sent back to Japan, while 300 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: thirteen percent responded put them out of this country. Ten 301 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:42,440 Speaker 1: percent said leave them where they are under control, presumably 302 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:46,880 Speaker 1: advocating a permanent imprisonment of citizens who had done absolutely 303 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 1: nothing wrong. At about the same time, in a Los 304 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: Angeles Times poll, a number of questions were asked about 305 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 1: people's support of the the incarcerations, and and what was 306 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:03,159 Speaker 1: going on in the war. Ten thousand, five hundred people 307 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:08,080 Speaker 1: answered yes to quote, do you favor a constitutional amendment 308 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: after the war for the deportation of all Japanese from 309 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: this country and forbidding further immigration, with an overwhelming no 310 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 1: vote for allowing an exception for American born Japanese people, who, 311 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,159 Speaker 1: to be clear again, were already citizens and coming up, 312 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about the resistance to the removal 313 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:29,760 Speaker 1: and how it all came to an end. But first 314 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:31,960 Speaker 1: we will once again take a quick break and have 315 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:40,639 Speaker 1: a word from one of our sponsors. While on the 316 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:45,280 Speaker 1: whole Japanese Americans had cooperated with the initial removal out 317 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:49,760 Speaker 1: of the Pacific coast, over time divisions started to develop 318 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:53,400 Speaker 1: within the camps. Some of this was generational, with younger 319 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: niss who were citizens of the United States increasingly rebelling 320 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:02,120 Speaker 1: against being denied the rights of citizenship. NISSA began pushing 321 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:07,240 Speaker 1: back against people who had been in the Japanese American 322 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:11,440 Speaker 1: Citizens League, insisting that this organization should have been pushing 323 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,200 Speaker 1: for a guarantee of their constitutional rights rather than working 324 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:18,919 Speaker 1: to a pc the American government. And these divisions between 325 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: the first generation immigrants from Japan and their second generation 326 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:31,480 Speaker 1: citizen children were exacerbated by overcrowding, poor living conditions, insufficient resources, 327 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: and a generally degrading to humanizing experience. And there certainly 328 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:40,200 Speaker 1: were people incarcerated who really were loyal to Japan, many 329 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:43,399 Speaker 1: of them the ones who had been educated there. And 330 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,600 Speaker 1: over time these groups banded together and in some cases 331 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 1: turn on the rest of the camp, bullying and harassing 332 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: those who remained loyal to the United States as time 333 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: went on. This was particularly true at Tool Lake, where 334 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: people deemed disloyal or otherwise problematic dick were transferred. The 335 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 1: conditions in these camps were in general poor, and they 336 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,919 Speaker 1: were often insufficient to withstand the climates where they were located. 337 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 1: As an example, desert camps were often just sweltering in 338 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,399 Speaker 1: the summer and filled with dust from dust storms, and 339 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,399 Speaker 1: there were also real incidents of violence, including at the 340 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,919 Speaker 1: hands of guards. For example, two men were shot to 341 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:26,560 Speaker 1: death in Lordsburg, New Mexico, at the camp there on 342 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: July seven, nineteen forty two, purportedly while they were trying 343 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,440 Speaker 1: to escape, although both men were described as too ill 344 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,920 Speaker 1: to walk at the time. Nineteen forty three saw a 345 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,360 Speaker 1: number of huge changes in the war and in the camps. 346 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 1: On January ninety three, a little less than a year 347 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:50,000 Speaker 1: after the Executive Order ninety six was signed, the Secretary 348 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,399 Speaker 1: of War issued a press release describing the right to 349 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:55,399 Speaker 1: bear arms in the nation's military as the right of 350 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 1: every citizen, no matter their national origin, after swearing their 351 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: un qualified allegiance and for swearing any form of allegiance 352 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:07,159 Speaker 1: to Japan, Nissa would be allowed to voluntarily enlist in 353 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: the army. The response to this from within the camps 354 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,280 Speaker 1: was mixed. There were people who were eligible to serve 355 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:16,719 Speaker 1: and were elated at the chance to be released from 356 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:21,119 Speaker 1: the camp, and many also had genuinely patriotic motives for 357 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:24,400 Speaker 1: wanting to join the service, but others saw this as 358 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:28,119 Speaker 1: deeply hypocritical, since it made no sense for a population 359 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,159 Speaker 1: deemed so dangerous that they had to be incarcerated on 360 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 1: mass to be invited to join the war effort. There 361 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 1: was also the hypocrisy of the war in Europe, especially 362 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 1: being like against a nation that was putting people in 363 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:48,119 Speaker 1: concentration camps, and the invitation was for people being held 364 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:51,239 Speaker 1: in concentration camps in the United States to join the 365 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:55,120 Speaker 1: effort to fight that force. It's a lot to wrap 366 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:57,920 Speaker 1: your head around. Well, it's one of those things where 367 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: when you when you really can sider that, Uh, I 368 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:03,840 Speaker 1: don't know if it's so much a lot to wrap 369 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 1: your head around in terms of like the details, but 370 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: it's like a head scratcher of like who could look 371 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:12,480 Speaker 1: at all of this and be like, yeah, that that 372 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:16,920 Speaker 1: makes sense. That seems there's some mental gymnastics involved. And 373 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,880 Speaker 1: I mean a lot of times when we have talked 374 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 1: about wartime service and now it has related to civil rights, 375 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 1: it has been involving black soldiers who joined the service 376 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,359 Speaker 1: to fight for freedom and then return home to find 377 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:35,080 Speaker 1: that they were still subject to the same discrimination and 378 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:38,240 Speaker 1: prejudice that had been true before the war. And this 379 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,479 Speaker 1: is a little bit different because it was literally like, 380 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:45,240 Speaker 1: please leave this concentration camp where we have been keeping 381 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 1: you to join the service and fight Hitler. Like, yeah, 382 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:55,440 Speaker 1: it's a stretch, It's very weird. I'm sure people reconciled 383 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 1: it in their heads, but I cannot understand the math involved. 384 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:00,760 Speaker 1: I'm sure we will get emails from people who insist 385 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: that it was the right thing to do. Uh. And 386 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:06,440 Speaker 1: there have already been Japanese Americans in the Armed Forces 387 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:10,200 Speaker 1: before Pearl Harbor, and along with new recruits, most wound 388 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:14,040 Speaker 1: up in segregated units. These included the one hundred Infantry 389 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:17,879 Speaker 1: Battalion and the four hundred twenty second Regimental Combat Team, 390 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 1: which were eventually combined. These could definitely be an episode 391 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: on their own. People have certainly asked for us to 392 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:28,120 Speaker 1: do that, but overall, the short version is that they 393 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:33,159 Speaker 1: served with extreme valor. My original plan was actually to 394 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,400 Speaker 1: include a lot more on them in this episode, but 395 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:38,920 Speaker 1: the whole rest of this episode there was too much 396 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,439 Speaker 1: of it. Uh So maybe someday in the future we 397 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:47,560 Speaker 1: will have a show on them. In ninety three, a 398 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,520 Speaker 1: number of policies also allowed some people to be released 399 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,760 Speaker 1: from the camps. One was a quote mixed marriage non 400 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:57,480 Speaker 1: exclusive policy, which allowed young people who were parked Japanese 401 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,679 Speaker 1: to be released under the argument that being kept in 402 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:05,880 Speaker 1: a Japanese only camp might turn them against the United States. However, 403 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:09,000 Speaker 1: many of those who were released had nowhere to go. 404 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 1: They had no funds because their assets had been frozen, 405 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,719 Speaker 1: and their families have lost everything, and they faced huge 406 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,879 Speaker 1: hostility out in the rest of the world. That same year, 407 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,480 Speaker 1: the War Department and the War Relocation Authority also tried 408 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:25,480 Speaker 1: to put together a way to figure out if the 409 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:28,920 Speaker 1: people being held in the camps were loyal those who 410 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:32,520 Speaker 1: were not could not be released under the newly announced policies. 411 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: They did this through a questionnaire that became known as 412 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:39,320 Speaker 1: the Loyalty Questionnaire, and two of its questions, in particular 413 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:45,560 Speaker 1: numbers twenty seven and eight, We're problematic. Question twenty seven 414 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,119 Speaker 1: asked eligible men if they were willing to serve in 415 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,760 Speaker 1: combat duty, and asked everyone else if they were willing 416 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,400 Speaker 1: to serve in some non combat way, and people were 417 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: afraid that answering yes to question would basically volunteer them 418 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: for active duty in the military. Question asked whether they 419 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:06,240 Speaker 1: would swear loyalty to the United States and forswear loyalty 420 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:10,240 Speaker 1: to the Emperor of Japan. Being American citizens born in 421 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: the US, most of whom had never even been to Japan, 422 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:17,880 Speaker 1: many had no loyalty to forswear, and people were reluctant 423 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,679 Speaker 1: to swear loyalty to a government that had been imprisoning 424 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: them without due process in defiance of numerous aspects of 425 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:29,360 Speaker 1: the Constitution. Because of their national origin, people who answered 426 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 1: no to both questions were branded as the no No Boys, 427 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:37,440 Speaker 1: branded as disloyal, and in many cases transferred to tool Lake. 428 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:41,239 Speaker 1: Those who were released from the camps in nineteen three 429 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:45,800 Speaker 1: and beyond continued to face prejudice, discrimination, hostility, and even violence, 430 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: and this became more of an issue as incidents that 431 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:53,000 Speaker 1: had actually happened earlier in the war involving the nation 432 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: of Japan became more public knowledge. He's included the Batan 433 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: Death March and the deaths of the participants in the 434 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:02,879 Speaker 1: Doolittle Raid who were captured by the Japanese. We have 435 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,119 Speaker 1: podcasts on the Doolittle Raid if you would like to 436 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:11,600 Speaker 1: learn more about that story. Uh learning about these events 437 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: caused an even greater increase in anti Japanese sentiment. People 438 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,919 Speaker 1: became increasingly angry that the camps were too soft on 439 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: the people who were incarcerated there, especially in cases when 440 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 1: the camps had facilities like hospitals that the nearby non 441 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:35,719 Speaker 1: incarcerated community did not have easy access to. Through these policies, 442 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 1: in overall camp population dropped from about one d and 443 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:45,080 Speaker 1: seven thousand to nine thousand, but many who were able 444 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:47,960 Speaker 1: to leave were among the best educated, meaning that many 445 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:52,560 Speaker 1: camps lost an important source of internal leadership. Unrest and 446 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:56,680 Speaker 1: violent incidents within the camps increased, including more transfers to 447 00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: tool Lake, whose non disloyal population shin had to be 448 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 1: transferred elsewhere to make room. In the spring of nineteen 449 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: forty four, Nissa once again, that is, the citizen children 450 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: of Japanese immigrants, were made eligible for the draft. This 451 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,320 Speaker 1: led to the Fair Play Committee at the Heart and 452 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: Mountain Camp being organized and forming a draft resistance, with 453 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 1: many of them pointing out that they were being imprisoned 454 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:27,160 Speaker 1: by a government that was now expecting them to serve 455 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:32,720 Speaker 1: in the military involuntarily. The draft resistance at Heart and 456 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:36,760 Speaker 1: Mountain led to indictments and convictions for violating the Selective 457 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 1: Service Act. Resistance to both the loyalty questionnaire and the 458 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: draft of Japanese American citizens eventually led to public Law 459 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,520 Speaker 1: seventy eight DASH four oh five D Naturalization Act of 460 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 1: nineteen forty four, allowing citizens to voluntarily renounce citizenship during wartime. 461 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,520 Speaker 1: The one hundred seventeen who first signed up had all 462 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,920 Speaker 1: been edging caated in Japan, and we're all incarcerated at 463 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,520 Speaker 1: Tool Lake and may have genuinely wanted to renounce American 464 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:11,400 Speaker 1: citizenship and return to Japan. But then the administration at 465 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:16,000 Speaker 1: Tool Lake started wilfully ignoring problems there, including bullying and 466 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: coercion at the hands of the people who really were 467 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:24,200 Speaker 1: loyal to Japan. Eventually, five thousand, five hundred eighty nine 468 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 1: people at the camp renounced their citizenship, many under duress. 469 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:32,200 Speaker 1: Most of these had their citizenship restored thanks to the 470 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:35,920 Speaker 1: work of Wayne Collins from the A c l U. Yeah, 471 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 1: this space basically became an attempt to, like, let's see 472 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:43,600 Speaker 1: how miserable we can make this situation to force people 473 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 1: to renounce their citizenship so that we can deport them 474 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:52,240 Speaker 1: to Japan. Like that. They were not very uh covert 475 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: that that was the underlying purpose. Aside from the increasing 476 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: unrest and in some cases violence at the camps, especially 477 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:08,240 Speaker 1: as the war dragged on, there were also legal challenges 478 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 1: to the internment that played out over the course of 479 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:14,360 Speaker 1: several years. Four different cases went all the way to 480 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:18,400 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court. Minorro Yusui was in the reserves and 481 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,800 Speaker 1: after being turned away from enlisting in the regular army 482 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:26,440 Speaker 1: nine times after Pearl Harbor, he broke curfew on purpose 483 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 1: and was arrested. Newspapers then described him as a spy 484 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:34,200 Speaker 1: because his children had drawn pictures of the Panama Canal. 485 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:39,720 Speaker 1: Gordon Hirabayashi, who was a Quaker, also broke curfew and 486 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: got arrested on purpose. Fred Korematsu had plastic surgery on 487 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 1: his eyes and tried to go into hiding before being 488 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 1: convicted of violating the executive order, and Mitsui Endo was 489 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,800 Speaker 1: chosen by the a c l U as a test 490 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:58,920 Speaker 1: case to try to have the removal and incarceration ruled unconstitutional. 491 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,880 Speaker 1: The Supreme Court unanimously agreed in nineteen forty three that 492 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:08,720 Speaker 1: Hirabayashi and Yasui's convictions were constitutional, and it held off 493 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,520 Speaker 1: on hearing the other cases until after the nineteen forty 494 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 1: four presidential election. On December eighteenth, nineteen forty four, it 495 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: was unanimously ruled that the United States could not continue 496 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:24,200 Speaker 1: to detain loyal citizens of the United States. Following this decision, 497 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 1: more and more people were allowed to leave the camps 498 00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 1: if they were able to demonstrate that they were loyal, 499 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:32,760 Speaker 1: and after the end of the war they were gradually 500 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,760 Speaker 1: shut down. Tool Lake was the last to close, on 501 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: March twentieth, nineteen forty six. However, many of the cities 502 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,600 Speaker 1: and towns that had been home to Japanese communities before 503 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,840 Speaker 1: the war no longer welcomed them, including some going so 504 00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:50,240 Speaker 1: far as basically posting signs saying don't come back here. 505 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:56,160 Speaker 1: In the end, fifty four thousands Japanese people UH and 506 00:32:56,360 --> 00:33:00,240 Speaker 1: citizens of Japanese ancestry returned to the Pacific coast. Fifty 507 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:02,640 Speaker 1: two thousand went to other parts of the United States. 508 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,959 Speaker 1: In Hawaii, nearly five thousand went back to Japan, although 509 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:09,760 Speaker 1: many were allowed to return to the United States following 510 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:14,280 Speaker 1: Wayne Collins legal advocacy on their behalf, basically having the 511 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:19,440 Speaker 1: citizenship that they had relinquished under duress restored to them. 512 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:22,120 Speaker 1: Many of these people were trying to start over with 513 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:27,080 Speaker 1: virtually nothing. The total property loss from the people who 514 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:30,000 Speaker 1: either had to sell or lost their homes and businesses 515 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:33,640 Speaker 1: is estimated at one point three billion dollars and the 516 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:37,880 Speaker 1: net income loss of two point seven billion dollars, although 517 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:41,840 Speaker 1: that is a N three estimate, would be more dollars 518 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:45,440 Speaker 1: than that now. One thousand, eight hundred sixty two people 519 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:49,960 Speaker 1: died in the camps, including an incidence of violence, including 520 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:53,960 Speaker 1: at the hands of guards. There were no serious convictions 521 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:58,640 Speaker 1: of any Japanese American during the war for espionage, sabotage, 522 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:00,960 Speaker 1: or any of the other at ativities that had led 523 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,800 Speaker 1: to the incarceration in the first place. However, there were 524 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:08,279 Speaker 1: at least ten convictions of white Americans for spying for 525 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:13,160 Speaker 1: the Japanese. In nineteen forty eight, President Harry S. Truman 526 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:17,759 Speaker 1: signed the Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act, which granted a 527 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:20,799 Speaker 1: total of thirty eight million dollars and restitutions of people 528 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,799 Speaker 1: who had been incarcerated. However, this amounted to a fraction 529 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:28,720 Speaker 1: of just the lost income from people's time in the camps. 530 00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:33,400 Speaker 1: The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians was 531 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:37,160 Speaker 1: established in nineteen eighty after a lengthy campaign for an 532 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:41,880 Speaker 1: investigation and justice. After holding extensive hearings, it recommended an 533 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:45,360 Speaker 1: apology and a twenty thousand dollar payment to each person 534 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:48,520 Speaker 1: who had survived the internment and was then still living. 535 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:52,839 Speaker 1: President Ronald Reagan signed Hr. Four forty two, also known 536 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:55,600 Speaker 1: as the Civil Liberties Act of nineteen eighty seven, into 537 00:34:55,680 --> 00:35:00,120 Speaker 1: law on August tenth, which offered the recommended apolog g 538 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 1: and reparation. It quote declares that one A grave injustice 539 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:09,920 Speaker 1: was done to citizens and permanent resident aliens of Japanese 540 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:15,400 Speaker 1: ancestry by the evacuation, relocation an internment of civilians during 541 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:20,200 Speaker 1: World War two two. These actions were without security reasons 542 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:24,839 Speaker 1: and without any acts of espionage or sabotage documented by 543 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:28,799 Speaker 1: the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, and 544 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:34,040 Speaker 1: were motivated by racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure 545 00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:39,840 Speaker 1: of political leadership. Three that the excluded individuals suffered enormous 546 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:44,040 Speaker 1: damages for which appropriate compensation has not been made, and 547 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:48,440 Speaker 1: four the Congress apologizes on behalf of the nation. The 548 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:51,680 Speaker 1: same act also establishes a fund for the Aluts who 549 00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:54,560 Speaker 1: were evacuated from their home in Alaska, which was in 550 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:57,880 Speaker 1: a war zone, and interned for far longer than was needed, 551 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:05,360 Speaker 1: mainly in old fish cannery without sufficient care. Yeah, that's unlike, uh, 552 00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:11,799 Speaker 1: the incarceration of Japanese and Italian and German nationals and citizens, 553 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:16,360 Speaker 1: which were like for reasons of suspicion and their the 554 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:18,440 Speaker 1: idea that they were enemy aliens and all of that 555 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:22,719 Speaker 1: kind of stuff. This evacuation was because, um, the islands 556 00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:25,120 Speaker 1: and peninsula peninsula that they were living on was in 557 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:28,840 Speaker 1: a war zoom and lack could be a whole subject 558 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:30,320 Speaker 1: of its own I think, I don't think there's a 559 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:33,680 Speaker 1: thing on it in the archive. Um, but that boiled 560 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:39,280 Speaker 1: down to you basically being moved for probably the right reasons, 561 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:44,480 Speaker 1: but in appalling conditions for just way longer than was 562 00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:49,360 Speaker 1: actually necessary for anybody's safety or national security. As a 563 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:53,520 Speaker 1: last note, Japanese immigrants became eligible to become United States 564 00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:57,440 Speaker 1: citizens in nineteen fifty two. I feel like we should 565 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:00,200 Speaker 1: also point out, in case any of our listeners had 566 00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:03,000 Speaker 1: wanted to go see Allegiance when it was in movie 567 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:05,920 Speaker 1: theaters and missed the first round, it will be back 568 00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:09,520 Speaker 1: in theaters this weekend. If you're listening to this the 569 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:14,960 Speaker 1: week that it publishes on correct tickets are sold out 570 00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:17,960 Speaker 1: where I live. I have my tickets, so since I 571 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:19,760 Speaker 1: missed it the first time because I was on a plane, 572 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:22,840 Speaker 1: this time I'll get to see it. How about listener 573 00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:25,520 Speaker 1: mail on this one, I do have listener mail and 574 00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:29,239 Speaker 1: it is from Sandy, and Sandy says, hi, ladies. I 575 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:31,719 Speaker 1: just want to say I'm a longtime listener and enjoy 576 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:35,560 Speaker 1: your informative broadcasts. I have been a pediatric intensive care 577 00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:38,440 Speaker 1: nurse for many years. When I was a young nurse 578 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:41,760 Speaker 1: in the eighties, we used iron lungs. They were good 579 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:45,000 Speaker 1: for the patient who needed respiratory support due to muscle 580 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:49,400 Speaker 1: weakness like polio, infant paralysis, and Gail and Barret syndrome. 581 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:52,840 Speaker 1: As you said in your podcast, there are very few left. 582 00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:55,040 Speaker 1: I think not so much it was because it was 583 00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:58,080 Speaker 1: not good technology, but more the fact that they were 584 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:01,600 Speaker 1: expensive to maintain. They were very big and heavy. They 585 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:05,160 Speaker 1: became harder and harder to find a suppliers stopped making them, 586 00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:08,760 Speaker 1: and existing tank respirators eventually wear out and better positive 587 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:12,759 Speaker 1: pressure ventilators were developed. I actually liked them as a 588 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:16,480 Speaker 1: child could talk while in it, while a conventional ventilator 589 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:19,000 Speaker 1: and a breathing tube is down their throat and into 590 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:22,840 Speaker 1: their lungs and is uncomfortable, require sedation, and is always 591 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:27,880 Speaker 1: at risk for being dislodged. There are less invasive ventilator machines, 592 00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:30,520 Speaker 1: but they require strapping a mask to the face, also 593 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:34,400 Speaker 1: not comfortable, and they have their own pros and cons. Anyway, 594 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:37,719 Speaker 1: I was recently home visiting my mom n years old, 595 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:41,120 Speaker 1: also a nurse, and we stopped. I'm gonna leave out 596 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:45,160 Speaker 1: the place where they stopped because privacy they have the 597 00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:47,840 Speaker 1: most fascinating warehouse. And right in the front door was 598 00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:50,719 Speaker 1: an old iron lung had a soul sign on it. 599 00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:53,160 Speaker 1: Not sure what the buyer was going to do with it, 600 00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:56,920 Speaker 1: but uh, it was interesting to see. I'm attaching a photo. 601 00:38:57,040 --> 00:38:59,239 Speaker 1: My mom said that when she was yet a young nurse, 602 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:02,719 Speaker 1: they had Polly Awards with these iron lungs. Hospitals now 603 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:05,879 Speaker 1: have backup generators for when there's a power outage. As 604 00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:08,600 Speaker 1: you can imagine, almost everything at a bedside now has 605 00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:12,000 Speaker 1: an electrical component, not so much. When my mom was 606 00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:15,320 Speaker 1: a young nurse, all i vs were regulated by hand, 607 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:18,520 Speaker 1: no bedside monitors, et cetera. She did say that they 608 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:21,720 Speaker 1: would if they would lose electricity with storms and such. 609 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:25,440 Speaker 1: They had to pump the iron lungs with a foot 610 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:28,000 Speaker 1: pedal to keep the bellows pumping. I did a search 611 00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:31,439 Speaker 1: on photos and came across a bunch. These were older 612 00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:33,720 Speaker 1: than the kind I worked with, but maybe not my mom. 613 00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:37,000 Speaker 1: There's a picture of a nurse holding a cigarette for 614 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:40,560 Speaker 1: a patient in the iron lung sigh, and then she 615 00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:43,000 Speaker 1: gives a link to the photos. I'm always amazed to 616 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:45,640 Speaker 1: see how far medicine has come in a relatively short time. 617 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:49,800 Speaker 1: Early ventilators had very little that could be adjusted compared 618 00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:52,839 Speaker 1: to the ones we have now, sort of like two 619 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,520 Speaker 1: tin cans in a string compared to an iPhone seven. 620 00:39:55,719 --> 00:39:57,480 Speaker 1: All I can think is that in another fifty years 621 00:39:57,520 --> 00:39:59,040 Speaker 1: we will look back on our state of the art 622 00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:02,200 Speaker 1: technology and think al barbaric. Sorry this is a bit wordy. 623 00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:05,560 Speaker 1: Don't apologize. It's great I love the wide variety of 624 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:11,360 Speaker 1: interesting topics, your thoroughness, uh without overwhelming your listeners, your Sandy, 625 00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:14,839 Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Sandy. I'm gonna be honest, I 626 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:18,919 Speaker 1: had not thought about the fact that, uh a pro 627 00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:22,040 Speaker 1: of the iron lung would be that it allowed patients 628 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:25,200 Speaker 1: to speak and not have a tube down their throat. Yeah. Either. 629 00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:27,719 Speaker 1: But then when I first read that email, my thought 630 00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:30,680 Speaker 1: was like, if I were in a position to need 631 00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:33,360 Speaker 1: such a thing and have any level of say in 632 00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:36,520 Speaker 1: the matter, I would be like, iron lung, please, I 633 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:40,239 Speaker 1: like to talk more. Uh. Yeah, I had not thought 634 00:40:40,239 --> 00:40:44,600 Speaker 1: about that at all. Um. And I can completely see 635 00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:47,640 Speaker 1: how that would be, especially with children who don't necessarily 636 00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:51,840 Speaker 1: have other means of communicating uh their own needs, that 637 00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:54,160 Speaker 1: being able to speak well in an iron lung could 638 00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:57,120 Speaker 1: be really really beneficial. Um And Yeah, there are lots 639 00:40:57,160 --> 00:40:59,640 Speaker 1: of pictures of polio awards that were basically rose and 640 00:40:59,719 --> 00:41:02,120 Speaker 1: rose of iron lungs with patients in them during the 641 00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:06,120 Speaker 1: hype of polio. So thank you so much for writing 642 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:08,200 Speaker 1: to us. If you would like to write to us 643 00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:10,960 Speaker 1: about this or any other podcast or a history podcast 644 00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:13,640 Speaker 1: at how Stuff Works dot com. We're also on Facebook 645 00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:15,840 Speaker 1: at Facebook dot com slash miss in history and on 646 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:18,759 Speaker 1: Twitter at miss in History. Our tumbler is missing history 647 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:21,359 Speaker 1: dot tumbler dot com. We're on Pinterest at pinterest dot 648 00:41:21,400 --> 00:41:23,960 Speaker 1: com slash miss in history, and that's also where our 649 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:27,200 Speaker 1: instagram is at missing history. You can come to our 650 00:41:27,239 --> 00:41:29,760 Speaker 1: parent company's website, which is how stuff works dot com 651 00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:33,279 Speaker 1: to find uh all kinds of information about just about 652 00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:36,040 Speaker 1: anything your heart desires. And you can come to our website, 653 00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:38,919 Speaker 1: which is missing history dot com to find show notes 654 00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:40,880 Speaker 1: on all the episodes Holly and I have ever worked 655 00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:45,560 Speaker 1: on an archive every episode ever, lots of other cool stuff, 656 00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:46,879 Speaker 1: so you can do all that and a whole lot 657 00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:49,160 Speaker 1: more at how stuff works dot com or miss in 658 00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:57,640 Speaker 1: history dot com for more on this and thousands of 659 00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:01,480 Speaker 1: other topics. Is it how stuff works dot com dot 660 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:03,040 Speaker 1: do