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.
In February 2017 we became concerned by the then President and his administration’s actions regarding immigrants. Our concerns have deepend. On March 15, 2025, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, stating that an “invasion” by a Venezuelan gang made it necessary. This allowed the administration to treat some immigrants as alien enemies, stripping them of their rights, rounding them up and deporting them to El Salvador. The Alien Enemies Act, designed for wartime use against foreign adversaries, has no place in modern immigration policy. It is time for it’s repeal. Read our statement of condemnation.
What’s New?
“World War II Internment of a German-American Couple in Hawaii” now online
Alfred and Susan Schmidt married in Germany in 1932, moved to the U.S. the following year, eventually working their way to Honolulu. In 1940, he and his wife became naturalized American citizens, changing their name to Smith. Their experiences with internment at...
“World War II Internment of a German-American Couple in Hawaii”
Fiset, Louis; “World War II Internment of a German-American Couple in Hawaii” June 2012, American Philatelist, Journal of the American Philatelic Society. It is reproduced here by permission of the author.
Detained, Interned, Incarcerated: U.S. Enemy Noncombatant Mail in World War II
Fiset, Louis. Collectors Club of Chicago, 2010. This is a compilation of mail by noncombatant civilians, diplomats and Axis merchant seamen held by the U.S. government during World War II, while awaiting exchange for U.S. citizens held behind enemy lines.
Ft. Meade, Maryland censuses now available
Ft. George G. Meade was a US Army military post located southwest of Baltimore in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It apparently served primarily as a temporary detention site for German, Italian and some Japanese internees before they shipped to other locations. A...
Ft. Meade guard tower. Image from sketch by German internee Paul Lameyer, courtesy of his grandson, Randy Houser.
History
