EVENTS
Educating the public about our WW II internment has been a primary goal since the German American Internee Coalition was founded in 2005. Our members have participated in conferences, lectures, and book talks. We’ve worked on projects to develop exhibits and preserve historical internment sites. We’ve been interviewed for newspaper articles, books, and documentaries. Here are some of those events, past and present.
Mother Jones Magazine Article on Alien Enemies Act
Mother Jones magazine published an article on March18, 2025, written by Isabela Dias, entitled “The US Used the Alien Enemies Act to Detain Their Families. Now, They are Watching History Repeat." Featuring the experiences of Heidi Gurcke Donald, who was brought with...
Analyzing Trump’s Plan to Invoke the Alien Enemies Act
On December 10, 2024, the Brennan Center for Justice hosted "Analyzing Trump's Plan to Invoke the Alien Enemies Act," an hour-long discussion about the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, its use in WWII, and its possible use in the Trump administration. Speakers were...
Crystal City Event Planned for October 26-29, 2023
The yearly pilgrimage to Crystal City, Texas, by former internees, their families and friends is planned for October 26-29, 2023. This year’s Pilgrimage theme is “Reaching Across Barbed Wire Fences.” In addition to learning about the unique history and stories of...
The Enemy Alien Files: Hidden Stories of World War II exhibit to open Oct. 1, 2022
An updated version of the “The Enemy Alien Files: Hidden Stories of World War II" exhibit begins its tour at the Angel Island Immigration Museum in San Francisco Bay on October 1, 2022. There will be a panel presentation that day with guest speakers Lawrence Distasi,...
U.S. Government Found Liable for WWII Human Rights Violations
Grace Shimizu, director of Campaign For Justice: Redress NOW For Japanese Latin Americans! recently announced that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) published its verdict in the case Isamu Carlos "Art" Shibayma vs United States, holding that the...
Gripsholm event held February 14-15, 2019 in N.Y.C. and New Jersey
Twelve former child internees, as well as families and friends, commemorated the 75th anniversary of German-American prisoner exchange during World War II, hosted by St. Mary's University in New York and New Jersey on Thursday, Feb. 14, and Friday, Feb. 15,...
St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas, hosted “Day of Remembrance” for German American WWII internment
On Friday, October 25, 2018, "Day of Remembrance" events were held to commemorate the 75th anniversary of internment of German Americans during WW II in Chicago and around the country. Organized by student groups from St. Mary's University, in San Antonio, students,...
“Only the Oaks Remain” exhibit in San Francisco
"Only the Oaks Remain: The story of Tuna Canyon Detention Station" in WW II, is on display from June 9, 2018-January 31, 2019, at 640 Old Mason Street, Presidio of San Francisco, CA 94129. Sponsored by the National Japanese American Historical Society, the exhibit...
Ft. Lincoln, ND Civil Liberties Justice Center One Step Closer
The United Tribes Technical College, whose campus encompasses the former Fort Lincoln Internment Camp near Bismarck, North Dakota, has completed a Condition and Feasibility Assessment that provides recommendations to rehabilitate a former hospital and the hospital...
Santa Barbara Historical Museum to host two exhibits about internment
The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is hosting two exhibits on WW II detention and internment in the area. Only the Oaks Remain: the Story of Tuna Canyon Detention Station and The Detention & Internment of Santa Barbarans During WWII opened February 1, 2018 at 136...
Algiers, Louisiana Alien Detention Station featured in documentary
Published May 24, 2017, "Camp of the Innocents" is a documentary film about the Camp Algiers Alien Detention Station in Louisiana (near New Orleans), the Latin American civilians housed there, and the WW II Enemy Alien Control Program. Produced by Jack Collins, Joe...
Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition Receives New Funding
On June 8, 2017, the Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition was awarded $54,000 by the National Park Service, which administers grants from the Japanese Confinement Sites Grants Program. These funds will be used to continue their work documenting the history of the...
Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park Hosts Enemy Alien Program Presentations
Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California, hosted three programs in the Fall of 2015 dealing with the Enemy Alien Control Program of WW II and its impact on civilian families. On September 12, "The WW II Enemy Alien Program and...
Friends of Texas Historical Commission Receive NPS Grant
In June 2015, Friends of the Texas Historical Commission received $16,000 from the National Park Service, which administers the Japanese Confinement Sites Grant Program. They will research and document a fading mural that was painted by an internee in the former...
Tuna Canyon Coalition Receives NPS Grant
In June 2015, the San Fernando Valley Japanese Community Center, Pacoima, California, and the Community Center's Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition received $102,190. from the National Park Service, which administers grants from the Japanese Confinement Sites...
The Society for Historical Archaeology Features Three Presentations on Internment Camps
A conference of the Society for Historical Archaeology held in Seattle, WA during January 7-10, 2015, had three different presentations about WW II internment camps. "Dark Shadows of the Homefront: Crystal City and Internment During World War II," by Carroll J....
Former Internees See First Screening of “Children of Internment” in Hollywood
Former internees, families, and friends converged at the Grauman Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, on January 27, 2014, to see the first screening of the documentary, Children of Internment, by Kristina Wagner and Joe Crump. The documentary examines the Alien...
Crystal City Family Internment Camp Placed on National Register of Historic Places
On August 1, 2014, the Crystal City Family Internment Camp, which housed thousands of internees of German and Japanese ethnicity from 1942-1948, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, thanks to the efforts of William McWhorter, Program Coordinator,...
NPS Study Honouliuli
National Park Service News Release Release Date: May 22, 2014 Contacts: PaulDePrey, Superintendent, World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, (808)266-0826 Barbara Butler, Study Lead, (415) 623-2311 Draft Special Resource Study Identifies Honouliuli...
HR 1425 Reported out of U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee
The German American Internee Coalition is thrilled that on October 21, 2009, the Wartime Treatment Study Act made a huge step toward passage when it was reported favorably out of the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. The bipartisan vote was 19-7,...
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Issues Day of Remembrance Letter
On February 4, 2009, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) issued its annual Day of Remembrance letter to Day of Remembrance participants. The concluding paragraph of the letter states: It has been over two decades since the enactment of the Civil...
Tuna Canyon Detention Station (TCDS) Coalition Hosts First Multicultural Panel, “Discovering History in Your Own Backyard,”
On March 30, 2014, the Tuna Canyon Detention Station (TCDS) Coalition hosted its first multicultural panel, "Discovering History in Your Own Backyard," at 12953 Branford Street, Pacoima, CA. Sigrid Toye, Min Tonai, Reverend Dr. Yoshi Tsuyuki, and Grace Shimizu,...
Crystal City, TX Internment Site Archeological Survey
April 2013—William McWhorter, historian with the Texas Historical Commission, reports: "The Texas Historical Commission’s archeological survey of two sites of the former Crystal City (Family) Internment Camp was conducted between April 15-19 of this year [2013]. Last...
Internment Presentation at Kurt Vonnegut Library in Indianapolis
On January 26, 2013, Eb Fuhr (Palatine IL), Frances Ott Allen (Cinncinnati, OH), Alfred Wohlpart (Oak Ridge, TN), and Anneliese Krauter (McCordsville, IN) told a rapt audience at the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library, about the experiences they and their families had as...
Crystal City Internment Camp Interpretive Panels Dedicated
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 3:30 P.M., eight new interpretive panels about the Crystal City, TX Internment Camp and the people kept there, were dedicated at the site. The Texas Historical Commission, Zavala County officials, the city of Crystal City, and former...
Second Memorial Planning Session Held at United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, ND
A small group gathered January 16-17, 2011 at the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) facilities, the site of the Fort Lincoln WWII internment camp, to discuss the results of the larger brainstorming sessions of May 30-June 2, 2010, and plan a proposal for the next...
Reunion and Picnic
A reunion and picnic for former internees and their families was held August 28, 2010 in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. Anneliese Krakau, nee Busch, former internee and also the widow of internee, Alfred, graciously hosted the event with her daughter. Eb Fuhr, who...
Memorial Planning Conference Held at United Tribes Technical College, Bismarck, North Dakota
May 30-June 2, 2010—Public Law 109-441 authorized the National Park Service to create a program to encourage and support the preservation and interpretation of historic confinement sites where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II. Pursuant to this...
“Ellis Island: Where it All Began”
On December 8, 2009, the 68th anniversary of the internment of the first German Americans under the U. S. Government's Alien Enemy Control Program, the German World Alliance, in co-operation with the National Park Service and the support of the German American...
National Park Service Announces Japanese American Confinement Sites Grants
April 2009—The National Park Service (NPS) has announced that Japanese American Confinement Sites grant applications are now available for the preservation and interpretation of U.S. confinement sites where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II. Grants...
Congressional Hearing Reviews the U.S. Wartime Treatment of German Americans and German Latin Americans
Home Events History Internment Camps Real People Resources Contact On March 19, 2009, the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law, chaired by Representative Zoe Lofgren...
House Subcommittee Hearing on Wartime Treatment Study Act Scheduled for March 19, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The Wartime Treatment Study Act (H.R. 1425/S. 564), was introduced on March 10, 2009. The Immigration Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on this bipartisan legislation for Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 12 P.M. in...
HEARTLAND, a play on German American Internment, Premieres at MiraCosta College
November 2008— MiraCosta College Theatre Presents World Premiere Award Winning Play* Heartland By Anita Yellin Simons & Lauren Simon Based on true stories of German-American families during WWII, Heartland explores what can happen when fear and prejudice pit...
Whose America? Who’s American? Diversity, Civil Liberties, and Social Justice?
July 3-6, 2008 What: Whose America? Who's American? Diversity, Civil Liberties, and Social Justice? A National Conference presented by the Japanese American National Museum will examine the connections between the Japanese American experience and the historical and...
NPS Grant Hearings
National Park Service Establishing Grant Proposal Criteria for Japanese American Confinement Site Legislation 2007—In 2006, President Bush signed into law a bill which authorizes the National Park Service to spend up to $38 million to preserve historically significant...
2007 Crystal City Reunion
THE SECOND NATIONAL REUNION OF GERMAN AMERICAN WORLD WAR II INTERNEE FAMILIES IN CRYSTAL CITY, TEXAS November 6 -- November 9, 2007 The second reunion of German American World War II internees was held in Crystal City, Texas from November 6 through November 9, 2007....
2007 Crystal City Reunion Narrative
REPORT: NOVEMBER 2007 CRYSTAL CITY INTERNMENT CAMP RE-UNION By: Anneliese “Lee” (Wiegand) Krauter Author of “From the Heart’s Closet—A Young Girl’s World War II Story” A re-union of some of the last remaining German/American internees of the Crystal City Family...
San Mateo Enemy Alien Conference and Drama Night
April 28, 2007 Successful San Mateo Enemy Alien Conference and Drama Night “I intend to take the teachers syllabus and promote its contents.” “Extend the Conference to other cities, to educate ALL.” “The program told a story that hasn’t been told. Excellent. Very...
San Mateo Enemy Alien Conference and Drama Night Announced
April 2007 HIDDEN STORIES OF WORLD WAR II: A Conference on Enemy Alien Restrictions and Internment and FREEDOM LOST: Three One Act Plays on Enemy Aliens in World War II In 2001, a unique collaboration among the Japanese, German, and Italian communities produced the...
Vanished Tours Begin | Traveling Exhibit Tells Unknown Story of German-American Civilian Internment in the United States during World War II
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Fall 2006 Contact person: Eric Brandt at 651.292.8700 or . Traveling Exhibit Tells Unknown Story of German-American Civilian Internment in the United States during World War II Some disappeared under the cover of night,...