Internment Camps In Canada

While the attack on Pearl Harbor was a devastating time in United States history and the attack being conducted by the Japanese government, it didn’t not justify Japanese Americans being put into internment camps. The fear of a Japanese attack on mainland United States soil prompted the United States government to create these internment camps. Such fear lead to innocent Japanese Americans to live in a way that could be considered inhuman. Of the hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans in the internment camps half of them were children. The conditions of the camps where no way of life and Japanese Americans were forced to live in an undignified life that

The core of the Japanese experience in Canada lies in the shameful and almost undemocratic suspension of human rights that the Canadian government committed during World War II. As a result, thousands of Japanese were uprooted to be imprisoned in internment camps miles away from their homes. While only a small percentage of the Japanese living in Canada were actually nationals of Japan, those who were Canadian born were, without any concrete evidence, continuously being associated with a country that was nothing but foreign to them. Branded as “enemy aliens”, the Japanese Canadians soon came to the realization that their beloved nation harboured so much hate and anti-Asian sentiments that Canada was becoming just as foreign to them as

The camps that the Japanese-Americans were taken to had the worse conditions imaginable. “More than 120,000 Americans of Japanese Ancestry were incarcerated in 10 camps scattered throughout the Western United States during World War II” (Children of the Camps Project 1). Detainees spent many years in these camps. They were locked behind barbed wire fences, and armed guards patrolled the camps. The conditions were comparable to the Jewish camps in Eastern Europe. Entire families lived in quarters that were poorly constructed and horribly cramped. These areas were also unbearably cramped and unclean. There was also no hot water for dishes or showers in the living quarters. In addition, lice was a huge problem in the internment camps. These camps and the laws that our government passed against the Japanese community were atrocious. The United States experienced a terrible tragedy when Pearl Harbor was attacked. However, the American government had no right to make these innocent Americans prisoners of war. During the 1940s and 1950s the Japanese

An internment camp is a “large detention center created for political opponents, enemy aliens, people with mental illness, members of specific ethnic or religious groups, civilian inhabitants of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, usually during a war” (wiki). Canada has come a long way since these times of immorality. Following the Second World War, immigration is still selective, but is a major improvement in comparison to historical times.

Imagine what it would be like if you and your family. Had to leave your home and live in a camp. In World War ll, life was challenging for Japanese Americans living inside internment camps. It was not necessary for so many reasons. It caused economic, political, and racial problems.

Before the internment camps were built the japanese had to stay in stables in racetracks. If the adults chose to work, they were only paid $5 a day. The camps were located in areas that made farming difficult and the prisoners ate a lot of army grub-style food.The U.S. Army eventually decided to allow the prisoners to leave the camps if they joined the U.S. Army but only 1,200 took the option.If they ran out of food then that was to bad for the people who were still waiting in line.

After the attack on the Pearl Harbor in 1941, a surprise military strike by the Japanese Navy air service, United States was thrilled and it provoked World War II. Two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. President FDR ordered all Japanese-Americans regardless of their loyalty or citizenship, to evacuate the West Coast. This resulted over 127,000 people of Japanese descent relocate across the country in the Japanese Internment camps. Many of them were American Citizens but their crime was being of Japanese ancestry. They were forced to evacuate their homes and leave their jobs and in some cases family members were separated and put into different internment camps. There were ten internment camps were placed in “California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas”(History.com). However, until the camps were fully build, the Japanese people were held in temporary centers. In addition, almost two-thirds of the interns were Japanese Americans born in the United States and It made no difference that many of them had never even been to Japan. Also, Japanese-American veterans of World War I were forced to leave their homes and relocate in the internment camps. Japanese families in internment camps dined together, children were expected to attend school, and adults had the option of working for earning $5 per day. The United States government hoped that the internment camps could make it self-sufficient by farming to produce food.

Economically, those who failed to prove they are Canadian lose their jobs because it is a security risk according to the War Measures Act. Moreover, they did not just lose their jobs, but also their homes and self-ran businesses. All of their homes and businesses are destroyed before they are sent to the internment camps. The government of Canada took all of the belongings of the Japanese and Italians whilst sending them to camps. In 1946, the government of Canada institutes the Japanese Property Claims Commission. This commission allows the Japanese to speak out their thoughts of being treated unfairly. Nor was it until 1988 when the government gave $20k as an apology to each living survivor. As a result, after all the hard effort the Japanese and Italians put into own homes and shops, the privilege of living and working where they want is taken away due to being forced to live in internment

After the restriction from the West coast exclusion zones took effect, Japanese families were moved to assembly centers and subsequently to interment or relocation camps. Many lived in assembly centers for months while waiting to be moved, having to deal with a poorly equipped community and crowded living situations. This is further described by Daniels. “The arrival at the assembly centers was particularly traumatic…Most, if not all, of the sites were overcrowded and not really prepared for human habitation. Toilet and bathing facilities were minimal.” (Pg. 65)8 Various illustrations of these poor housing situations can be seen in a yearbook made to remember the community of the Fresno Assembly Center. (Pgs. 1 & 3)9 Not only did these conditions put Japanese-Americans through a lower standard of living, but they also created distress resulting from multiple resettlements, as many had to be moved to internment camps as soon as they were getting used to life in the assembly centers. The emotions stemming from constant relocation can be seen within the same yearbook, in which the author states, “…we have experienced our primary trials and tribulations of readjusting ourselves to shape a living community out of bare nothing.” (Pg. 2)10 This community built over five months was soon shattered as families

The Second World War was an international event which drastically impacted the world as a whole. With the war came a new found sense of mistrust throughout society. American and Canadian communities were divided due to the fear of espionage and sabotage, forms of spying which could help aid the enemy in war. This division promoted distrust, discrimination and violence toward Japanese immigrants and their children. To offset these fears resulting from war, Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadian citizens were forced into internment camps, resulting in a heightened sense of tension upon arrival home and finally the compensations of both US and Canadian governments

As a nation, Canada is known to the rest of the world for being thoughtful, polite, and generally very accepting of all ethnicities and people. However, the treatment of Canada’s Indigenous population, Japanese Canadians, African American and Indigenous slaves seems to suggest otherwise. Canada's dark past may not be talked about often, but there are three main events that targeted specific ethnic groups which still affect those people today. Residential Schools led to major negative cultural consequences, as well as psychological and sociological effects. Japanese-Canadian Internment Camps were used to strip Japanese Canadians of their rights because of the World War II bombing of Pearl Harbor. And finally, for two centuries slavery was legal in New France, and in Lower Canada under British rule. Human beings were being held captive and were owned by many people, including governors, bishops, military officers, priests, and blacksmiths. All of these terrible consequences can be accredited to Canada’s imperialistic policies.

The World War I Internment camps had changed the Ukrainian internees and their families’ lives forever. They were affected in many ways while they were confined at the camp. Katie Domytruk said in a letter to her father that they “haven’t [sic] nothing to eat and they do not want to give us no wood. My mother has to go four times to get something to eat.” (source #1 - Letter to an internee). This quote means that the government didn’t care about the Ukrainian Canadians, and could possibly change other countries’ perspectives on Canada. This has affected her family as her mother has to go downtown four times everyday just to get something for them to eat. The coldness at the shack also prevented Katie from going to school in winter.

Additionally, the Japanese- and other Asian immigrants were seen as a source of cheap labour for Canadians. When necessary labour was completed by these Asians, the European Canadian community continued on with shunning them. In fact, an agreement made in Japan, in 1907 set a certain number of Japanese immigrants allowed into Canada. This hostility was strengthened by the coming of the Second World War when Japan was an enemy of the Allies- including Canada. Japan’s attack of Pearl Harbour in 1941 further incited fears in Canadians for Japanese-Canadians – especially those who lived near the Pacific coast.

The Psychological impacts put upon the Japanese-Canadians, weren’t just the horrible experiences, or the separation of family and friends. Rather the impact due to the discrimination of the Japanese-Canadians by the government and the rest of society had a deeper impact. The hatred of the Japanese-Canadians by the Government and the people had an Enormous impact on the people’s well being, and the way they viewed themselves. The government after the relocation sold most of the properties and confiscated possessions of the Japanese-Canadians. They also took out all of the Japanese Newspapers, restricted Telephone and mail Services, thus Preventing Communication. Furthermore, the media was full of “Anti-Japanese-Canadian Rhetoric.” Finally the Greatest hatred against came from not the media, nor the government, but the people around them. Sent to remote and deserted areas, or work/concentration camps,

After the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, life in the U.S. had changed. It was the first time in a long time that America was attacked on its homeland. This national security threat was a big shock to the people. The Japanese had to suffer the consequences of their attack. Just as the Germans developed concentration camps for the Jewish during World War II, the Americans set up "relocation" programs better known as internment camps to keep all the Japanese. The reason the Japanese were moved into these camps was because they were suspected of being spies. They were forced to live there for up to four years and were not able to continue with their own lives as they were before while they were living in these camps.