WW2 Japanese Internment camps compared to Concentration camps
... It may seem like a nightmare, but it was the cold, hard reality for millions of Jewish people and 120,000 Japanese people. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, United States (U. ... government migrated 120,000 men, women, and children of Japanese descent from the Pacific coast to internment camps. ... They were transported in trains and busses to the internment camps located in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. The camps were mostly located in wide open, unoccupied places. ... Housing at internment camps was always overcrowded. ... During internment meals were provided by the U. ... Dental and optical services were also available in the internment camps. ... During internment able-bodied evacuees were expected to work in jobs needed in the community. ... Japanese internees were not permitted to leave the camps unless given a official signed pass from the officer in charge. In the later years of internment camps, the U. ... government only allowed Japanese internees to leave if they enlisted in the U. ... Many of the Japanese evacuees were unhappy with this rule, and only 1,200 people enlisted. In the camps, leadership positions were almost always given to U. ... On rare occasions, leadership positions were offered to American- born Japanese. Although no Japanese person could ever be the highest rank, they might be placed in charge of a mess hall or farm. ... The people placed in concentration camps were not just Jews. Gypsies, Communists, political prisoners, homosexuals, and anyone who spoke out against the Nazis were also taken to the camps. ... The ride to the concentration camp was a long and tiring trip. ... When the prisoners arrived at the camps, they were forced to give up their possessions. ... After the prisoners arrived at the camps, the prisoners were no longer considered human. ... In concentration camps there was never enough food, and millions of people died from malnutrition. ... In the camps many people were forced to do labor. ... The guards at the concentration camps were very mean people who took pleasure in beating the prisoners. ... While in concentration camps some prisoners had to undergo horrifying experiments, almost always resulting in death. ... at some camps would try to see how long a human could endure extreme heat or cold. ... On average, 1,000 people died daily at the camps. ... Every few months officials came to the camps and selected the weak people from the group. ... After the camps were liberated, times were still hard for the Jews. ... Many died after being released from camps. ... Life after the war for Japanese-Americans was also very difficult. ... Prejudice against the Japanese was around for many years after the war, but as a new generation rolled in, prejudice rolled out. Fifty years after internment camps, the efforts of leaders and advocates of the Japanese America Community paid off. Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, otherwise known as the Japanese American Redress Bill. Congress paid each victim of the camps $20,000 in reparations The money was sent with a signed note from the U.