World War II Enemy Aliens Program (2009)—National Archives and Records Administration, C-Span Video Library Archivist Lynn Goodsell talks about various aspects of the World War II “enemy alien control” programs and related records available at the National Archives. Besides the well known internment camps in California and Nevada for people of Japanese ancestry, she notes that camps […]
In 1941, German Merchant seamen from the scuttled luxury liner S.S. Columbus found themselves held in the U.S. America was not yet involved in WWII, and Fort Stanton, New Mexico, was chosen to house the 400 plus sailors. (More information about Fort Stanton)
Historian, writer, and lecturer, Michael Luick-Thrams worked with TRACES, a non-profit educational organization created to gather, preserve and present stories of people from the Midwest and Germany or Austria who encountered each other during World War II. Begun in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1985, it closed in 1989.
A government propaganda film about Crystal City, TX internment camp, 1945.
“Lost Voices of Crystal City” from BBC Radio Four by BBC Radio Four. Released: 2004.
German language documentary available online. Zum Nazi verdammt. Das Schicksal deutschstämmiger US-Familien im 2. Weltkrieg, die in amerikanischen Lagern interniert wurden. Documentation directed by Michaela Kirst for Tangram Films, Deutschland, Bayr. Rundfunk, 2007, 52 Min. Many interviews conducted in English with voiceovers. Unfortunately, the online version ends 10 minutes early. Documentary aired on German and French network […]
John Christgau was one of the first authors to research the Alien Enemy Program of WW II. His book, Enemies, was originally published in 1985.
In 2002-2003, Ursula Vogt Potter compiled THE MISPLACED AMERICAN, a collection of memoirs, originally both oral and written, from members of the Vogt family about what happened to them during World War II.
Heidi Gurcke Donald, a former internee from Costa Rica, reads an excerpt about her family’s experiences from her memoir, “We Were Not the Enemy.”
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 internees joined together for a ceremony commemorating the history of the camp and […]