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?
Letter to Senator William Langer from a group of Ft. Lincoln internees, Jan 1946—Requests Help to Avoid Forced Repatriation
Letter to Senator William Langer from a group of Ft. Lincoln internees, January 29, 1946—requests help to avoid forced repatriation (provided by an internee family) A petition was also submitted to Congress on January 24, 1947, signed by 156 internees held on Ellis...
1942-1948, INS Records Related to the Detention of Enemy Aliens during World War II
Name Files List, Special War Problems Division, 1942-1948 found in "INS Records Related to the Detention of Enemy Aliens during World War II," Historical Reference Library and Reading Room Section, Informational Service Branch, 1991
21 Feb 1944, Latin American Association letter
Latin American Association letter, 21 Feb 1944 — enumerates the Latin American German civilians and wounded German soldiers on board the Gripsholm on the 1944 repatriation voyage (in German)
Signatures of 117 Guatemalan deportees, 1942
Signatures of 117 Guatemalan deportees, 1942. From S.S. Drottningholm, a Swedish ship used in exchanges of Latin American civilians to Germany — Los alemanes en Guatemala, 1828-1944, by Regina Wagner, Guatemala, 1996.
Ft. Meade guard tower. Image from sketch by German internee Paul Lameyer, courtesy of his grandson, Randy Houser.
History
