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?
Newly Published: “Port of No Return” by Marilyn Miller
Marilyn Grace Miller, associate professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Tulane University, recently published Port of No Return: Enemy Alien Internment in World War II New Orleans, the story of New Orleans’s key role in the complex secret...
The War Outside
The War Outside. Hesse, Monica. New York, Little, Brown and Co. 2018. New from Monica Hesse, the bestselling and award-winning author of Girl in the Blue Coat--an "important" (New York Times Book Review), "extraordinary" (Booklist, starred review) novel of conviction,...
In Our Midst
In Our Midst. Jensen, Nancy. Dzanc Books 2020. In Our Midst is Nancy Jensen’s powerful follow-up to The Sisters. Jensen’s debut novel was a Kirkus Best Fiction pick of 2011, an Indie Next #1 pick, and an ABA Bestseller for five weeks.Drawing upon a long-suppressed...
“In Our Midst” to be published in April
Dzanc Books is thrilled to announce the forthcoming publication of In Our Midst, Nancy Jensen’s powerful follow-up to The Sisters. Jensen’s debut novel was a Kirkus Best Fiction pick of 2011, an Indie Next #1 pick, and an ABA Bestseller for five weeks. Drawing upon a...
Ft. Meade guard tower. Image from sketch by German internee Paul Lameyer, courtesy of his grandson, Randy Houser.
History
