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?
Script Three: The Master Tailor’s Wife by John Christgau (use in conjunction with Lesson Plan Seventeen above)
Download: Script 3 - The Master Tailor's Wife
HR 1425 Reported out of U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee
The German American Internee Coalition is thrilled that on October 21, 2009, the Wartime Treatment Study Act made a huge step toward passage when it was reported favorably out of the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. The bipartisan vote was 19-7,...
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Issues Day of Remembrance Letter
On February 4, 2009, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) issued its annual Day of Remembrance letter to Day of Remembrance participants. The concluding paragraph of the letter states: It has been over two decades since the enactment of the Civil...
National Day of Rememberance
Home Events History Internment Camps Real People Resources ContactThe first federal legislation to pass which specifically mentioned the internment of German Americans and Latin Americans was introduced by Rep. Mike Honda as House Resolution 56. It passed in March...
Ft. Meade guard tower. Image from sketch by German internee Paul Lameyer, courtesy of his grandson, Randy Houser.
History
