REAL PEOPLE
US RESIDENT INTERNEES
—Martial Law—
Internment in Hawaii
U.S. CITIZEN INTERNEES
Berg Story
Internment of German Americans in Hawaii under Martial Law By: Doris Berg Nye—My Memories of the War Years My parents and my older sister were interned in Honolulu. My Dad and Mom on Dec. 8, 1941. My older sister, Elle, age 18, was taken five days later. My younger...
Smith Story
Alfred and Susan Schmidt married in Germany in 1932, moved to the U.S. the following year, eventually working their way to Honolulu. In 1935 Alfred began a roofing business of his own, and in 1940, he and his wife became naturalized American citizens, changing...
—The Enemy Alien Control Program—
United States Resident Internees
Ebel Story
Max Ebel, a German Immigrant's Story Max Ebel, a U.S. resident German alien, was interned from September 1942 until June 1944. The reason for his internment was never explained to him. During the time he was interned, he was in five different internment facilities and...
Herrmann Story
“The Hard Way to Become a Citizen” As told to grandson, Michael Murphy The reality of World War II came knocking on the door of the Herrmann’s home in Chicago on August 6, 1942. The United States had declared war in December of the prior year but the impact on certain...
Banzhaf Story
My parents Emmy Elfriede and Eugen Banzhaf's lives included two world wars, the severe inflation in Europe during the period between the wars, the depression in the United States, and the isolation and marginalization that came with interment during the second...
Heitmann Story
"Untrue and Unjust Accusations"1 As told by John Heitmann, Ph.D -- Son History and past memories, especially recent past memories, were rarely topics of family conversation when I was growing up during the 1950s and 1960s. World War II, in particular, was off limits...
Neupert Story
The Neupert Family Story My father and mother, George Neupert and Emma Hoechner Neupert, were both born in Germany. My father and his sister emigrated to the United States in 1928, and my dad brought my mother over the following year. My parents were married in June,...
Reseneder Story
The Reseneder Family Internment Story My mother, Charlotte Reseneder Dimmling, her sister, Othilia “Tilly” Reseneder Busse and my grandparents were interned in Crystal City from 1942 until December 1945, seven months after the war in Europe ended. How they got there...
Scheibe Story
On the 8th of November, 2002, my brother (Egon Scheibe Jr.) and I (Erika Scheibe Seus) went on a journey to Crystal City, Texas. This was a journey we needed to make. Our parents, Grete Scheibe, now 89, and our deceased father Egon Sr. were internees at a camp there...
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...
Interned after War’s End
Fuhr Story
The Fuhr Family Story My Internment by the US Government By Eberhard E. Fuhr © 2006 My parents, Carl and Anna Fuhr, immigrated to the U.S. in 1927 and 1928. My father came in 1927, and my mother, along with my older brother, Julius and me, immigrated in 1928. We...
Interned With Family in The Military
Greis Story
The Greis Story -- Interned with Sons in the US Military My parents, Peter Joseph and Franziska Greis, were born near Cologne, Germany on April 9, 1891 and May 20, 1897, respectively. My father was a WWI veteran. They married in Germany after WWI and in 1922, my older...
Internee Laborers
Ebel Story
Max Ebel, a German Immigrant's Story Max Ebel, a U.S. resident German alien, was interned from September 1942 until June 1944. The reason for his internment was never explained to him. During the time he was interned, he was in five different internment facilities and...
Herrmann Story
“The Hard Way to Become a Citizen” As told to grandson, Michael Murphy The reality of World War II came knocking on the door of the Herrmann’s home in Chicago on August 6, 1942. The United States had declared war in December of the prior year but the impact on certain...
Max Ebel’s Rehearing Report
Repatriated & Exchanged Families
Levermann Story
My name is Bernard Levermann. My parents Kaethe and Bernard emigrated to the US from Northern Germany in the late 1920's. I was born on June 25th, 1941 at New York Hospital. During World War II my family was interned in Crystal City, Texas. Because I was only a baby...
Eiserloh Story
The Eiserloh Story Mathias and Johanna Eiserloh met in Johanna’s hometown of Idstein, Germany after WWI, where Mathias was a civil engineering student. They shared a dream of emigrating to America and did so in 1922. They brought with them the hopes and dreams held by...
The Grabers
The Grabers, two young boys and their German-born parents, lived in New Jersey in an apartment building owned by a Polish landlord. When Hitler invaded Poland, the relationship became strained, so the Grabers moved. The landlord contacted the FBI. Mr. Graber worked on...
U.S. Residents: a Japanese Family
Inouye Memoir
Hisao Inouye's Story While our website is about German American and Latin American residents interned during WW II, we are making an exception to post Hisao Inouye's memoirs here. He was held in temporary facilities, a military prison, and various Immigration...