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.
In February 2017 we became concerned by the then President and his administration’s actions regarding immigrants. Our concerns have deepened. On March 15, 2025, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, stating that an “invasion” by a Venezuelan gang made it necessary. This allowed the administration to treat some immigrants as alien enemies, stripping them of their rights, rounding them up and deporting them to El Salvador. The Alien Enemies Act, designed for wartime use against foreign adversaries, has no place in modern immigration policy. It is time for it’s repeal. Read our statement of condemnation.
What’s New?
“Innocent Enemies,” by Margret S. de Oliveira Castro
Margret S. de Oliveira Castro's book, Innocent Enemies, details the experiences of her father, Friedrich Walter Schlösser, who was jailed in El Salvador, interned in the USA, and deported to Germany during WWII. Arrested in 1941, he spent more than a year-and-a-half...
The Schmitz Family Story
We have all read about the mass relocation of about 120,000 Japanese from the west coast shortly after Pearl Harbor to various camps in the interior and about 10,000 to internment camps. However little is known about the selective internment of about 12,000...
Schneider Story
A Mother Interned, A Family Left Behind Gertrude Anna Schneider, an interned German immigrant Paul Schneider, an excluded naturalized German America citizen As told to eldest daughter, Vilma Schneider Ralston in March 1983 Gertrude Anna Schneider, began life in...
Voester Story
The Voester Family Story As told by Kurt Voester (son) Being a German “enemy alien” at the beginning of WW II was not a desirable position to be in. Here is the story of what happened to a San Francisco family in which the immigrant German parents were long time...
Ft. Meade guard tower. Image from sketch by German internee Paul Lameyer, courtesy of his grandson, Randy Houser.
History
