About Us
The German American Internee Coalition (“GAIC”) was formed in 2005 by and for German American and Latin American citizens and legal residents who were interned by the United States during World War II. We are former internees, or their families and friends. We come from all walks of life and from countries around the world. We would like you to know our story. GAIC is a nonprofit corporation registered with the New Hampshire Department of Charitable Trusts.
Our Mission Statement & Goals
GAIC is dedicated to making public the little known United States World War II policies that led to internment, repatriation and exchange of civilians of German ethnicity, both in the United States and Latin America.
- We will educate the general public about the U.S. government’s detention and internment of over 11,000 German American and Latin American citizens and residents during World War II.
- We will reach out to former internees, their families and supporters. We will gather their stories, share information, and support their efforts to make their stories known.
- We will seek full U.S. government review and acknowledgment of the civil rights violations endured by the German American and Latin American communities.
- We will work collaboratively with other internee groups who have similar purposes. As we work toward these goals, we also hope that our efforts result in better protection of the civil liberties of future vulnerable ethnic groups.
The German American Internee Coalition formed in 2005 to educate the public about our experiences, after United States officials declared U.S. and Latin American civilians of German background “enemy aliens” during WWII.
Feared collectively because of our German ethnicity, our civil liberties were abused by the U.S. government. Similar indiscriminate presumptions should not be made today. Ethnicity, religion, nationality or appearance is not enough to declare whole groups of people unwelcome in the United States. February 2017
What’s New?
The Diplomat’s Daughter
Tenabe, Karin. Washington Square Press, 2017. Set partially in the Crystal City, Texas Internment Camp, this novel follows the romance of Emi Kato, a Japanese diplomat's daughter, and Christian Lange, a young German from Wisconsin, during their internment and...
New documentary on WWII internment airs
“Camp of the Innocents,” published May 24, 2017 on YouTube, 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. Linked with...
“Detailed official” lists of internees, 1942-43
"Detailed official" lists of people of German ethnicity ordered interned—include name, date and location of birth, address when taken, next of kin and their address, occupation, and place of internment as of a specific date. Most of these internees were from the U.S.,...
Ellis Island petition for release of German civilian internees
A petition was submitted to Congress on January 24, 1947, signed by 156 internees held on Ellis Island, asking for their release, rather than enforced deportation/repatriation to Germany. They requested the same for internees being held in Crystal City and other...
Ft. Meade guard tower. Image from sketch by German internee Paul Lameyer, courtesy of his grandson, Randy Houser.
History
