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    Order 9066

    Chapter 7: Leaving Camp

    At the end of 1944, the U.S. government lifted the order barring people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast. Many people freed from camp faced racism and poverty as they tried to rebuild their lives. Some found that leaving camp was even harder than being sent there.

    June 25, 2018

    Chapter 7: Leaving Camp
    Original caption from War Relocation Authority: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers, Arizona. Aboard the Greyhound bus, which will take them to their former homes in California, these evacuees are anxious to be off. September 15, 1945.Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration
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    Chapter 7: Leaving Camp
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    Roughly 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were imprisoned in camps at the start of World War II. But almost from the beginning, some were allowed to leave. Many college-age students were sent east, to schools outside the West Coast exclusion zones. Farm laborers were recruited from the camps to harvest crops. In 1943, even more prisoners were allowed out. These were people the government decided it could trust, based on a loyalty questionnaire.

    Some Japanese Americans leapt at the chance to leave camp for points east. Others waited until they were allowed to move back to the West Coast. That wouldn't be until 1945. But wherever they went, resettling after camp was hard — sometimes even harder than being sent there.

    When Japanese American families moved out of incarceration camps, it was common for one or two members to leave ahead of the rest. Once they were established, they'd send for the others. The War Relocation Authority, which ran the 10 incarceration camps, set up offices across the country to help Japanese Americans resettle once they were freed. The WRA helped them find jobs and places to live, but it could do nothing to protect Japanese Americans from the racism they encountered outside camp. Some were terrorized by white people, especially in rural areas.

    Most families had no idea what awaited them when they went home. When they were sent to the camps, they had been forced to sell their farms, businesses and belongings for a fraction of their worth. People also made arrangements to store what they could — in the closet of an apartment, in a friend's garage, in a church basement. Many Japanese Americans came home to find that those belongings were gone, their property destroyed.

    Many people also had no place to live. They had been renters when they were forced into camp, and there was a severe housing shortage when they returned. Shelters were established up and down the West Coast where families could stay temporarily. But there are stories of people living in chicken coops, Judo schools and old farm sheds.

    For most Japanese Americans incarcerated during the war, recovering from the experience would be a long, slow process. After camp, many didn't talk about it. They chose to put it behind them. But years later, a movement started to build. Japanese Americans began to demand that the United States government apologize for the incarceration and pay reparations.

    Gila River Relocation Center
    Original caption from War Relocation Authority: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers, Arizona. Evacuees returning to their former homes in California by Greyhound bus. September 15, 1945. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration

     

    Molly Maeda, Citizen's Indefinite Leave
    In 1943, the War Relocation Authority issued "Citizen's Indefinite Leave" cards to prisoners it was releasing from camp. This one belonged to Molly Maeda and gives her permission to travel from the Minidoka concentration camp, in Idaho, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Courtesy of the Molly Kageyama Maeda Collection

     

    Heart Mountain, Wyoming
    A group waves goodbye to a bus leaving with prisoners released from Heart Mountain, in Wyoming. Snapshot taken by Yoshio Okumoto. July 26, 1944. Courtesy of Grace Kawakami

     

    Oregon Property Owners' Protective League
    The Oregon Property Owners' Protective League, Inc., in Portland, calls for a mass meeting. March 1945. Courtesy of Densho

     

    Two young members of the Ohashi family
    Two young members of the Ohashi family pose behind the back of the Japanese language school in Seattle, Washington. The school had become a hostel where families could stay temporarily after being released from camp. Circa 1945. Courtesy of the Ohashi Family Collection

     


    NARRATORS
    Pat Suzuki
    Sab Shimono
    PRODUCERS
    Kate Ellis
    Stephen Smith
    EDITOR
    Chris Julin
    THEME MUSIC
    Genji Siraisi
    AUDIO MIX
    Veronica Rodriguez
    Stephen Smith
    SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY PRODUCTION TEAM: Jennifer Jones, Noriko Sanefuji, Valeska Hilbig.
    APM REPORTS PRODUCTION TEAM: Mike Reszler, Nathan Tobey, Chris Worthington, Alex Baumhardt, Hana Maruyama, Emerald O'Brien, Shelly Langford, Andy Kruse.
    SPECIAL THANKS: Densho — The Japanese American Legacy Project; Go For Broke National Education Center.
    Support for Order 9066 comes from the Terasaki Family Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, and Penelope Scialla.
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