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?
WW II History of Fort Meade
In two recent articles, the Baltimore Sun described the role Fort Meade, Maryland played as an internment facility during WW II, as well as the switch over to housing prisoners of war in 1943.
Crystal City Family Internment Camp on Facebook
Werner Ulrich, a former Crystal City, Texas internee, recently started a Facebook page where former internees and interested viewers can discuss internment and share photographs and memories. Check it out!
WW II Enemy Aliens—State of Wisconsin Collection of Letters and Reports
An on-line collection of letters concerning enemy aliens of German ethnicity, by internees themselves, as well as official reports on individuals and internment facilities.
Commemorating Crystal City: The Transnational Dimension of German American Internment Experiences
Commemorating Crystal City: The Transnational Dimension of German American Internment Experiences was published on-line in the American Studies Journal, number 59, (2015). Author and historian Ingrid Gessner is Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University...
Ft. Meade guard tower. Image from sketch by German internee Paul Lameyer, courtesy of his grandson, Randy Houser.
History
