Japanese Canadian Internment Camps A Personal Perspective By
Japanese Canadian Internment Camps A Personal Perspective By: Stefeni Higuchi
Backround Information © After the bombing of Pearl Habor in Dec. 17 th 1941, in the US, racial profiling occured © In 1942, 22, 000 Japanese-Canadians were evacuated from BC over a 9 month period © By October, 8 internment camps were set up in interior BC © Women, children and older people were sent there while men who complained or violated the curfew were sent to the “prisoner of war” camps in Ontario
Backround Information cont. © The property of the Japanese-Canadians (inc. land, business etc. ) were confiscated by the government and sold and the proceeds were used to pay for their internment © In 1945, the government extended the Order in Council to force Japanese to either go to Japan and lose their citzenship or move to eastern Canada © Even though the war was over, it was illegal for them to return to Vancouver until 1949
Posters © This is an example of the poster the government used to evacuate all Japanese-Canadians during 1942
Personal Perspective from my Great-Uncle © My great-uncle was born in Richmond, BC around 1914 © Ever since Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, it had changed their lives dramatically © After Pearl Habor, the Canadian Government moved to control feared treachery of its Japanese population by invoking the War Measures Act against all people of Japanese descent
Cont. © They became the victims of extreme racial discrimination and were blamed for everything that went wrong. They also thought they were spies © A lot of people in BC didn’t want the Japanese living there so Mackenzie King incarcerate all Japanese males between the age of 14 and 45 © Around 1942, that is when many Japanese-Canadians were sent to internment camps in abandoned mining settlements
Cont. © During this time, the government had taken their land, businesses, and basically everything they had © The valueables they owned were sold without their consent and for far less than their value © They were stripped of their rights, issued special clothing, humiliated and was forced to do manual labour © They were being punished for a crime they didn’t commit. It was because they weren’t white and “could” have been spies
Cont. © Some people were shipped out in different provinces across Canada, especially to provinces in the west and Ontario © My grandfather was given the choice of either staying here in Canada and ending up at the internment camp or going back to Japan © He decided to go back. However, my great-uncle decided to just remain where he was and work there
Cont. © Some people decided to stay where they were because they were born in Canada and Japan to them, was like an unknown country they knew very little of © He learned Japanese and English at the same time because even though he was living in Canada, he went to a Japanese school during the time he spent in the internment camps © He was moved around the prairie provinces working as farmhands
After the Internment Camps © Afterwards, he got married to a woman who was a Japanese-Canadian as well and had 3 children © After my great-uncle was released from the internment camp, they were moved to the east towards northern Ontario in a small town called Chapleau in the late 40’s and worked on the CPR © My grandfather had come back from Japan and moved there as well
Feelings about the whole experience © My great-uncle and his family felt many feelings when they found out they were being forced to move out of BC © He felt insecure about the whole situation because he didn’t know exactly what was going to happen © He felt obliged to do whatever the government instructed him to do © There was a feeling of sadness and devestation because they no longer owned their land everything was taken away from them
Feelings cont. © It was a very depressing time for all the Japanese. Canadians. They were treated very harshly (ex. hard labour, poor living conditions) © He felt very discriminated against the white Canadians who felt the Japanese-Canadians were not welcomed in their country
Question © It is important to note that Canada is at war with Japan, Germany, Italy and Austria. Why then were only Japanese-Canadians held against their will?
Ending © In 1988, Canada apoligized for this miscarraige of justice, admitting that the actions of the government were influenced by racial discrimination © The government and PM signed a redress agreement providing a small amount of money compensation
Videos © 1. http: //archives. cbc. ca/IDC-1 -71 -308 -162111/conflict_war/internment_apology/ © 2. http: //archives. cbc. ca/IDC-1 -71 -5682921/conflict_war/internment/ © 3. http: //archives. cbc. ca/IDC-1 -71 -5682918/conflict_war/internment/
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