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?
Las Posesiones
Alvarado Quesada, Carlos. Las Posesiones. San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Uruk, April 2012. (a novel) Las Posesiones takes place at a time following the entry of the United States in World War II, when governments of several Latin American countries, including Costa...
Costa Rica en la Segunda Guerra Mundial (1939-1945)
Calvo Gamboa, Carlos. Costa Rica en la Segunda Guerra Mundial (1939-1945). San José, Costa Rica: Editorial Universidad Estatal A Distancia, 1985. Find it online
Enemies: WW II Alien Internment
Christgau, John. Enemies: WW II Alien Internment. University of Nebraska Press, October 2009 (republication). Read a review. John Christgau's Website Buy Online
Where Clouds Meet the Water
Contag, Kimberly and James Grabowska. Where Clouds Meet the Water. Inkwater Press, 2004. Where the Clouds Meet the Water follows the historical journey of the German Ecuadorian widower, Ernst Contag, and his four young children from their home in the South American...
Ft. Meade guard tower. Image from sketch by German internee Paul Lameyer, courtesy of his grandson, Randy Houser.