Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1676/

The Emotional Toll of Being Incarcerated in Camp during World War II

When I think about the camp days, I – I’m always grateful to my parents for shielding me. For letting me be a child and run around and have a good time with young people, not to – I don’t forget the barbed wire. I remember the barbed wire. I remember trying to crawl back in the barbed wire. I remember the kind guard, you know, who helped me climb back into camp, telling me not to get caught by the mean guards with the guns pointing at me in camp. It’s – I don’t know how other young people feel about it, but I’m emotional. I don’t talk about it with – I don’t talk about it. My sisters and I never talked about it, we never – never discussed camp once we got out of camp. I never really talked about it with my children. I think I would have a difficult time.


imprisonment incarceration World War II World War II camps

Date: November 8, 2018

Location: California, US

Interviewer: June Berk

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Takayo Fischer, born in November 1932, is a Nisei American stage, film, and TV actress. During World War II, as a young child, she and her family were forcibly evacuated from the West Coast and spent time in the Fresno Assembly Center before being relocated to Jerome and Rohwer concentration camps. Fischer later lived in Chicago, Illinois, where, as a young adult, she won the crown of “Miss Nisei Queen.” She has appeared in dozens of major Hollywood films, including Moneyball (2011), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005). She also appeared in the stage production of The World of Suzie Wong in New York in 1958 and many productions with East West Players in Los Angeles. (June 2018)

Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
en
ja
es
pt
Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Feeling imprisoned at camp

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

en
ja
es
pt
Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
en
ja
es
pt
Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Institutionalization as a bad aspect of camp

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

en
ja
es
pt
Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
en
ja
es
pt
Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

State Department records show concern for treatment of Japanese American internees

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

en
ja
es
pt
Francis Y. Sogi
en
ja
es
pt
Sogi,Francis Y.

Remembering December 7, 1941

(1923-2011) Lawyer, MIS veteran, founder of Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation

en
ja
es
pt
Francis Y. Sogi
en
ja
es
pt
Sogi,Francis Y.

Meeting Japanese Americans from the mainland in MIS

(1923-2011) Lawyer, MIS veteran, founder of Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation

en
ja
es
pt
Francis Y. Sogi
en
ja
es
pt
Sogi,Francis Y.

Awareness of concentration camps as a Japanese American

(1923-2011) Lawyer, MIS veteran, founder of Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation

en
ja
es
pt
Fred Korematsu
en
ja
es
pt
Korematsu,Fred

Manhunt

(1919 - 2005) Challenged the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066.

en
ja
es
pt
Fred Korematsu
en
ja
es
pt
Korematsu,Fred

The Final Verdict

(1919 - 2005) Challenged the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066.

en
ja
es
pt
William Hohri
en
ja
es
pt
Hohri,William

Trying to get back into camp

(1927-2010) Political Activist

en
ja
es
pt
William Hohri
en
ja
es
pt
Hohri,William

Education in camp

(1927-2010) Political Activist

en
ja
es
pt
Dale Minami
en
ja
es
pt
Minami,Dale

Reasons for conformity and competitiveness in Gardena, California

(b. 1946) Lawyer

en
ja
es
pt
Dale Minami
en
ja
es
pt
Minami,Dale

Role of the redress movement in helping Nisei to open up about their wartime experiences

(b. 1946) Lawyer

en
ja
es
pt
Mako Nakagawa
en
ja
es
pt
Nakagawa,Mako

Search of family home by the FBI following the bombing of Pearl Harbor

(1937 - 2021) Teacher

en
ja
es
pt
Mako Nakagawa
en
ja
es
pt
Nakagawa,Mako

Not recognizing father after reunion at Crystal City, Texas

(1937 - 2021) Teacher

en
ja
es
pt
Mako Nakagawa
en
ja
es
pt
Nakagawa,Mako

A child's memories of activities at Crystal City, Texas

(1937 - 2021) Teacher

en
ja
es
pt