Japanese Internment Camps

During WWII, the 3 Axis Powers that the US combated against were Germany, Italy, and Japan. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, a U.S naval base located in Hawaii. This sunk 4 battleships, 1 other ship, and 2 destroyers, destroyed 4 battleships, and damaged 3 cruisers, 1 destroyer, and 1 other ship. This destroyed 188 aircraft, and damaged 155 more. 2,345 military were killed, and 1,247 millitary were wounded, along with 57 killed civilians and 35 wounded civilians.

This attack completely stunned the U.S., and caused paranoid citizens to believe that the Japanese would attack again on the U.S. Rumors were spread that Japanese Americans were going to sabotage the U.S. This led to a new phase of American prejudice towards Japanese Americans.

This ultimately led to the U.S. War Department calling for the mass evacuation of all Japanese Americans. All of these Japanese had to sell their homes and businesses, were forced to leave their belongings, and to completely abandon their past lives. They were then put in internment camps. The U.S. justified this is as a necessary action needed for national security, and that the U.S. can't risk any instances of Japanese spies or other acts of espionage.

These camps and daily lives were set up in a structure that would lead the Japanese to believe that their lives weren't altered too much. Americans set up high schools, government, clubs, and social gatherings for the Japanese to make it seem tolerable. As the war progressed, many Japanese men chose to volunteer for the U.S. army.

In the end, no charges were ever filed on Japanese Americans, meaning that they were relocated for virtually no reason beyond racial bigotry and paranoia. Japanese Americans fought for justice because of this, and the U.S. government is continuing to pay back Japanese sums for their losses due to their internment.

-Nicole Pavlovsky