Minidoka National Historic Site

Visited: May 2014

Nearby city: Twin Falls, ID

"The Japanese race is an enemy race and while many second and third generation Japanese born on United States soil possessed of U.S. citizenship have become "Americanized" the racial strains are undiluted. It then follows that along the vital Pacific Coast over 112,000 potential enemies, of Japanese extraction, are at large today. There are indications that these were organized and ready for concentrated action at a favorable opportunity. The very fact that no sabotage has taken place to date is a disturbing and confirming indication that such action will be taken."

-this passage is from a report prepared by Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt, head of Western Defense Command in "Final Report: Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast, 1942." This quote was also included in the U.S. government's brief to the Supreme Court defending Executive Order 9066 in the Korematsu case

"I don't want any of them [persons of Japanese ancestry] here. They are a dangerous element. There is no way to determine their loyalty … It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen, he is still a Japanese. American citizenship does not necessarily determine loyalty … but we must worry about the Japanese all the time until he is wiped off the map."

-testimony of Lt. Gen John L. DeWitt to Congress, specifically the House Naval Affairs Subcommittee to Investigate Congested Areas. April 13, 1943

December 7, 1941 is a date that will live in infamy. The attack on Pearl Harbor catapulted the United States into the global conflict of World War II. The aftermath of the surprise attack led to wartime hysteria and suspicion towards Japanese-Americans, intensifying discrimination that many Japanese-Americans had already been experiencing for decades. It did not matter whether it was a person born in Japan who had immigrated to the United States (Issei: literally "first generation), or someone born in the US who had Japanese ancestry (Nisei), the Japanese could not be trusted. They were treated like the enemy...because they looked like the enemy.

Just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese Zero Pilot named Shigenori Nishikaichi crash landed on the remote Hawaiian island of Niihau. Three Japanese Americans living on the island attempted to assist the pilot and help him retrieve his documents and escape. This is a fascinating account (google "Niihau incident" for more info) full of misunderstanding and miscommunication. The bottom line: this incident was the match that lit the powder keg fueling the idea that the Japanese living here were spies and could not be trusted and was constantly used as justification for the government's policy of internment.

The government's response to the problem was swift and harsh. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, which authorized the government to forcibly remove all persons of Japanese ancestry living along the Pacific Coast and relocate them to internment camps further inland. In the subsequent months, nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans were sent to ten camps throughout the American Mountain West. They remained imprisoned in these camps for the next 3 years or so, with the last camp closing in 1946.

One of these camps is located in a remote location on the high desert Snake River plain known as Hunt. It's about 17 miles north of Twin Falls. The camp was dubbed the Minidoka War Relocation Center. At its peak, the camp housed 9,397 Japanese Americans, most of them from Washington (particularly Bainbridge Island), Oregon, and Alaska. At almost 10,000 inhabitants, the camp was the seventh largest town in Idaho at the time.

Visitors can learn about this sobering and tragic time in our history at the Minidoka National Historic Site. This is a place that every American should visit and learn more about. There is a new visitor's center at the site, lots of exhibits, and placards describing the conditions of the camp and the experiences of the people who were interned there. Your first stop is the reconstructed guard tower, and the original foundations of the entry guard station and waiting room.

it was quite a shock for those leaving the beautiful, lush greenery of the Pacific Northwest to live in the barren desert of Idaho. Many would sit along the river here, seeking some solace in their terrible circumstances

waiting room

Entry guard station

Despite the country's mistrust of Japanese Americans, the U.S. Army opened military service to the Japanese Americans in 1943. Many were eager to sign up and fight for their country, even though their country had incredibly mistreated them. Nearly 1,000 internees at Minidoka enlisted with the Army, accounting for 25% of the total Japanese-Americans volunteers. At the end of the war, President Harry S Truman presented citations to a Nisei regiment, commenting "You fought not only the enemy, but you fought prejudice - and you have won." An honor roll at the site lists these brave Japanese American soldiers.

Take some time to walk the mile long trail that goes through the camp. You will pass by sites of the barracks where the internees lived, baseball field, hospital, root cellar, mechanic garage, and other buildings where meetings and activities were held.

Although this was a dark period in America's history and a great injustice perpetuated by our country's government, this is a history that must be learned about, confronted honestly and discussed openly. There are many lessons we can learn from our history, lessons we must learn in order not to repeat that history. As a placard states at the site's entrance "May these camps serve to remind us what can happen when other factors supersede the constitutional rights guaranteed to all citizens and aliens living in this country."

More info here: https://www.nps.gov/miin/index.htm