On January 19, 1939, having scuttled their boat off Cuba to avoid its capture by the British, German sailors from the luxury liner, the S.S. Columbus, were brought to Angel Island, California, March 1, 1940. At first these internees were labeled “distressed seamen paroled from the German Embassy,” but later, when the U.S. entered the war, the […]
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16 July 1943 memo. Francis Biddle, Attorney General to Hugh B. Cox, Assistant AG and J.E. Hoover, FBI, declaring custodial detention lists “inherently unreliable” and stating they should not be used. Download: 16 Jul 1943 ltr Biddle_Custod_detention list
FBI Bulletin No. 69, 25 November, 1942, part IA – Custodial Detention Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; First Series 1942; http://foia.fbi (website with specific bulletin no longer found) — orders families interned, if they wish to join family members
6 Jun 1942, Memorandum between War and Justice Departments on Enforcement of Contraband, Curfew and Travel Regulations in the Western Defense Command; signed by Ennis and Assistant Chief of Staff, War Department
4 Jun 1942, FBI memo, Edward Tamm to Hoover — reports on N. J. L. Pieper meetings with Ennis and DeWitt
2 Jun 1942, FBI memo, Pieper (San Francisco Special Agent in Charge) to Hoover — report on meetings with General John DeWitt of the Western Defense Command and Edward Ennis, Director, Alien Enemy Control, Department of State.
Notice to FBI Field Office (San Francisco), 19 Mar 1942, from J. Edgar Hoover re: “final disposition of alien enemy cases”
22 Dec 1941 memo, FBI to Attorney General discusses request of General DeWitt that police provide surveillance of enemy aliens in entire west coast area
J. Edgar Hoover to Major General Edwin Watson, 10 Dec 1941; Archival Document package “FDR and World War II,” Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library — FBI report on number of Japanese, German, and Italian aliens in custody as of 9 December, 1941.