Welcome to the supplemental blog post for Episode 24 discussing the work of Japanese & Japanese American Internees as well as German and Italian prisoners of war on the homefront of American during WWII.
You can listen to the episode where ever you get your podcasts. Just search for “Victory Kitchen Podcast”!
Below are photographs from the United States Library of Congress and the U. S. National Archives. You can find the citations at the bottom of the blog post.
Japanese Internment/Imprisonment
Japanese and Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from their homes and farms and later used as labor on other farms further inland, though they weren’t always welcome there either. This created a massive labor shortage on the West Coast which had the government scrambling to fill using imported labor from Mexico, seasonal laborers (of which there was a large shortage), local townspeople, and school children.
(Summary: Photograph shows K. Fukushima working with agricultural machinery at the concentration camp where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. Prisoners grew crops to supplement the poor quality food served in the camps, although sometimes administrators sold the crops on the open market.)
What this caption does not say is that Japanese and Japanese Americans were forced to sell their land and belongings at a fraction of its value. Many of them were taken advantage of by neighbors or others in their community. The ability to “follow their callings” was really just another way of forcing them to work another farmers’ land, while they had to leave their own crops standing in the fields or left to rot. In desperation and anger, a handful of Japanese farmers burned their crops out of protest.
Prisoners of War
It was difficult to find many pictures of prisoners of war that were state-side in the public domain. Most of them are owned by museums and historical societies which required a lot of hoop-jumping and fees. So, the following three pictures are the only ones I could acquire in time for this post.
Cookbook Feature:
Here is the Cookbook Feature for this episode: Wartime Cooking Guide, published in 1943!
RESOURCES
Japanese American Prisoners
Websites:
Japanese American Incarceration During WWII (fantastic primary resources)
Japanese American Internment Camps During WWII (online exhibits for Tule Lake & Topaz)
Japanese American National Museum
Prisoners at Home: Everyday Life in Japanese Internment Camps Exhibition (Digital Public Library of America)
Books:
Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II by Martin W. Sandler
Library of Congress Images:
War Relocation of Japanese Americans Photograph Collection
Ansel Adams photograph collection of Manzanar War Relocation Camp
Transfer of the evacuees from the Assembly Centers to War Relocation Centers was conducted by the Army, 1942. Train lists were made up so that families would not be separated and in most instances groups associated by residence in pre-evacuation days were kept together. Here is a busy scene of family groups identifying their hand baggage prior to departure from the Assembly Center at Santa Anita, California. Library of Congress.
San Francisco, Calif., April 1942. First-graders, some of Japanese ancestry, at the Weill public school pledging allegiance to the United States flag. The evacuees of Japanese ancestry will be housed in War relocation authority centers for the duration of the war. Dorthea Lange, Photographer. Library of Congress. 20 Apr 1942.
Manzanar, Calif. June 1942. Ichiro Okumura, 22, left, from Venice, Calif., thinning young plants in a two-acre field of white radishes at the War Relocation Authority center for evacuees of Japanese ancestry. Francis Stewart, Photographer. Library of Congress. 2 Jun 1942.
Tule Lake, Calif. July 1942. K. Fukushima, 38, farmer evacuee from Clarksburg, adjusting the flow of seed potatoes on a feeding rotary potato planter. Five hundred acres of potatoes will be planted on the War Relocation Authority center for evacuees of Japanese descent at Tule Lake.
(Full Summary: Photograph shows K. Fukushima working with agricultural machinery at the concentration camp where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. Prisoners grew crops to supplement the poor quality food served in the camps, although sometimes administrators sold the crops on the open market.) Francis Stewart, Photographer. Library of Congress, 1 July 1942.
National Archives Images:
Mountain View, California. Henry Mitarai, 36, in the onion field on his mechanized farm, prior to evacuation. His payroll ran as much as $38,000.00 a year. Farmers and other evacuees of Japanese descent will be given opportunities to follow their callings at War Relocation Authority centers where they will spend the duration. Dorthea Lange, Photographer. Records of the War Relocation Authority. National Archives, 30 Mar 1942.
San Lorenzo, California. Evacuation of farmers of Japanese descent resulted in agricultural labor shortage on Pacific Coast acreage, such as the garlic field in Santa Clara County. High School boys were recruited to off-set the shortage. Farmers and other evacuees will be given opportunities to follow their callings at War Relocation Authority centers where they will spend the duration. Dorthea Lange, Photographer. Records of the War Relocation Authority. National Archives, 5 May 1942.
Mission San Jose, California. High School girl of Japanese ancestry assisting her family in the strawberry field prior to evacuation. She plans to attend special graduation exercises for evacuation students being held on the following day. Dorthea Lange, Photographer. Records of the War Relocation Authority. National Archives, 5 May 1942.
Sunnyvale, California. Stringing poles in Santa Clara County bean field. Farmers and other evacuees of Japanese descent will be given opportunities to follow their callings at War Relocation Authority centers where they will spend the duration. Dorthea Lange, Photographer. Records of the War Relocation Authority. National Archives, 30 March 1942.
Manzanar Relocation Center, Manzanar, California. Part of crew of 20 working in field Number 4, hoeing corn on the farm project at this War Relocation Authority center for evacuees of Japanese ancestry. Dorthea Lange, Photographer. Records of the War Relocation Authority. National Archives, 30 June 1942.
Florin, California. Strawberry truck farmer who came to the United States from Japan in 1902, is seen packing strawberries on his farm a few days before evacuation. He has six American born children, with one son serving in the United States Army at Camp Robinson. Dorthea Lange, Photographer. Records of the War Relocation Authority. National Archives, 11 May 1942.
POWs (German & Italian)
Websites:
List of WWII United States Prisoner of War Camps
Indiana Historical Society (webpage about a past exhibit on Italian POWs in Indiana. If you ever get a chance to visit the IHS, their exhibits are so excellent!)
POWs Work in the Fields - Nebraska
German POWs on the American Homefront
Follow Up Interviews With Former German POWs Held In America
Ft. Meade Converted to POW Camp in WWII
Books:
Michigan POW Camps in World War II by Gregory D. Sumner
Library of Congress Images:
PRISONER OF WAR AREA 'A,' BUILDINGS 7613, 7614, 7614, 7616, AND 7617, BARRACKS, AND BUILDING 7619, KITCHEN AND MESS HALL. Library of Congress. Undated.
PRISONER OF WAR AREA 'A,' BUILDING 7561, GUARD TOWER No. 1. (Building 7571, Company Supply, is in the background). Fort McCoy photograph #B-31, undated. - Fort McCoy, Sparta, Monroe County, WI. Library of Congress. Undated.
National Archives Images:
"Prisoners of war (PWs) march from compound in the morning for their work detail in a factory. Hoopeston, Illinois." Original Field Number: 648-34-85. Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer. Photographs of American Military Military Activities. National Archives, Aug 1944.