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Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig - Internment at Manzanar

Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig and her husband were interned at Manzanar, pictured above, during World War II. This photo beautifully photographed by Ansel Adams captures the scenery of the camp. But such a place holds painful memories for Japanese American internees. In recalling the terrible conditions of camp life, Aiko discussed during one of her interviews the barren environment surrounding the camp. She was shocked at how deserted the area was, with nothing but desert and mountains for miles, and all were often plagued by terrible dust storms and extreme temperatures.

Escape was not an option for internees, she recounts, as armed guard towers aside, there was nowhere to escape to. And as Japanese Americans, they would undoubtedly be very noticeable in any town or village nearby if they did manage to find shelter.

Like Sox, Aiko and Manzanar internees suffered through shortages of food, bad, spoiled, or bland food when they did get to eat, a lack of privacy, no toilet paper in primitive latrines, and hay mattresses. These terrible times are never easy to remember, but it was these kinds of experiences that motivated Aiko to later become involved in Redress to hold the United States government accountable to their unprecedented unconstitutional acts.

Source: Densho Digital Archive, http://archive.densho.org/main.aspx. Visual History Collection: Emiko and Chizuko Omori Collection: Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig Interviews, Segments 8, 9, and 14.

Photo: Densho Digital Archive, http://archive.densho.org/main.aspx. Photo/Document Collections: Ansel Adams Collection.