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Crystal City Event Planned for October 26-29, 2023
The yearly pilgrimage to Crystal City, Texas, by former internees, their families and friends is planned for October 26-29, 2023. This year’s Pilgrimage theme is “Reaching Across Barbed Wire Fences.” In addition to learning about the unique history and stories of...
The Enemy Alien Files: Hidden Stories of World War II exhibit to open Oct. 1, 2022
An updated version of the “The Enemy Alien Files: Hidden Stories of World War II" exhibit begins its tour at the Angel Island Immigration Museum in San Francisco Bay on October 1, 2022. There will be a panel presentation that day with guest speakers Lawrence Distasi,...
U.S. Government Found Liable for WWII Human Rights Violations
Grace Shimizu, director of Campaign For Justice: Redress NOW For Japanese Latin Americans! recently announced that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) published its verdict in the case Isamu Carlos "Art" Shibayma vs United States, holding that the...
Werner Ulrich, Jr., former internee, featured in Uvalde, TX Newspaper
The Uvalde Leader-News, a newspaper “Informing Southwest Texas since 1879,” published "Texas visitor recalls war internment" on May 15, 2022 about Werner Ulrich Jr., who, with his family, was interned in the Crystal City, Texas Family Internment Camp during WWII. Way...
the Schlösser Family Story
By Margret S. de Oliveira Castro— Friedrich Walter Schlösser was jailed in El Salvador, interned in the USA, and deported to Germany. He always maintained he had been the victim of an illegal international kidnapping. Born in Hamburg on July 2, 1902, he was only 12...
Recent broadcast features John E. Schmitz, author of “Enemies Among Us”
"With Good Reason," Virginia Humanities Radio, aired an hour-long program called "Legacies of World War II" on May 6, 2022. John E. Schmitz, author of Enemies Among Us, was interviewed in one segment about his family's three-year internment in Crystal City, Texas and...
Justice Denied: an Historical Sojourn
Wendel, Joe. Bloomington, Indiana: Archway Publishing, 2017. Dr. Joe Wendel writes a wide-ranging history of German and German Americans, focused on providing insights into the two World Wars from the viewpoint of a German American who lived in Austria during WWII....
National Day of Remembrance ceremony
Disturbed that the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC planned a February 2022 three-day commemoration focused solely on Japanese American relocation during WWII, students in Teresa Van Hoy's history classes at St. Mary's University, San Antonio,...
Commemorating Tuna Canyon Detention Station
On December 2, 2021, Adam Schiff, a California delegate to the House of Representatives, spoke to the Congressional Record, recognizing the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tuna Canyon Detention Station in California and commending the Tuna Canyon Detention...
Introducing New Board Member
We are so pleased to announce that Sigrid Banzhaf Toye, PhD, has joined our Board. Sigrid's father, Eugen Banzhaf, was interned for several years during WWII, before being released on parole. She is an educational and behavior therapist in private practice and holds a...
Enemies Among Us: the Relocation, Internment & Repatriation of German, Italian & Japanese Americans During the Second World War
Schmitz, John E. Enemies Among Us: the Relocation, Internment & Repatriation of German, Italian & Japanese Americans During the Second World War. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2021. In Enemies among Us John E. Schmitz examines the causes,...
Newly Published: “Enemies Among Us” by John E. Schmitz
John E. Schmitz, Ph.D., son of former internee John Schmitz, and history professor at Northern Virginia Community College, has written Enemies Among Us: the Relocation, Internment, and Repatriation of German, Italian and Japanese Americans during the Second...
Port of No Return: Enemy Alien Internment in World War II New Orleans
Miller, Marilyn Grace. Port of No Return: Enemy Alien Internment in World War II New Orleans. LSU Press, Baton Rouge, LA, 2021. One of two principal ports through which enemy aliens might enter the United States, New Orleans saw the arrival of thousands of Latin...
Marilyn Miller, Author, Discusses “Port of No Return,” book about Camp Algiers, LA
Louisiana State University Press hosted a May 2021 discussion of Port of No Return; Enemy Alien Internment in World War II New Orleans with author Marilyn Miller, associate professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Tulane University.
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...
“Innocent Enemies”
de Oliveira Castro, Margret S. Dorrance Publishing Company, Pennsylvania, 2020. 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...
Miscellaneous internee lists
29 Feb 1944 lists of internees being held on that date at East Boston Immigration Station, Boston, Massachusetts; Sharp Park Detention Camp, Sharp Park, California; House of Good Shepherd, Chicago, Illinois; Seattle, Washington; San Pedro Detention Station, San Pedro,...
“American Brush-Off,” a young adult e-book, now available
American Brush-Off, a young adult e-book by Max Willi Fischer, is now available to readers. Loosely based on the experiences of Eb Fuhr, who was taken from his high school and interned with his family for over two years, "...seventeen-year-old Lud Mueller is an...
American Brush-Off, a young adult e-book, now available
American Brush-Off, a young adult e-book by Max Willi Fischer, is now available to readers. Loosely based on the experiences of Eb Fuhr, who was taken from his high school and interned with his family for over two years, "...seventeen-year-old Lud Mueller is an...
TRACES events in Germany
TRACES, a group focussed on the history of German immigrant experiences in the U.S. announces an upcoming program on U.S. WWII internment in Germany. Michael Luick-Thrams, executive director, announces the events below. Press release: It was wartime on the US home...
History of Crystal City Internment Camp now online
Joseph O'Rourke, who commanded the Crystal City, TX Family Internment Camp, wrote this "Historical Narrative of the Crystal City Internment Camp" in 1945, as the facility was slowly being emptied. The report detailed its establishment, construction, organization and...
New Crystal City information posted
Two additional inspection reports on the Crystal City, TX Family Internment Camp, and several lists of internees transferred there during the first days of the camp are now available for viewing. The transfer lists include the first internees in the camp in December...
“History in Five: FDR’s Secret Enemy Exchange Program” video
Simon and Schuster Books posted this video in 2015, with Jan Jarboe Russell, author of The Train to Crystal City, briefly presenting five facts about Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the policy that led to the exchange of thousands of U.S. and Latin American civilians of...
February 2017 Statement
[pexblogposts pex_attr_title="" pex_attr_cat="283" pex_attr_layout="columns" pex_attr_number="1" pex_attr_columns="2"][/pexblogposts] The German American Internee Coalition formed in 2005 to educate the public about our experiences, after United States officials...
February 1944 M.S. Gripsholm manifest on-line
On February 15, 1944, the M.S. Gripsholm sailed from the New York harbor to Lisbon, Portugal, with 1,117 civilians of German descent, including children, scheduled to be exchanged for persons held in Germany. Most had been interned in Texas; many were from...
A German Ecuadorian family’s WWII experiences now on-line
Karin Harten Schramm, who was brought to the United States with her German Ecuadorian family 1944, has generously allowed us to post her family's WWII experiences, largely compiled from contemporaneous letters and diaries Gertrud Harten, her mother, kept. There are...
the Harten Family Story
By Gertrud Harten – 1939 to 1948, and Karin Harten Schramm - 2019 My parents were both from Hamburg, Germany. My father, Wolfgang Harten, born in 1907, finished his apprenticeship in an import/export company in 1927. At that time Germany was suffering under the...
WWII exchange voyages remembered
Lars Hemingstam, author and founder of a website about the ships of the Swedish American Line, discusses the exchange voyages during World War 2 between the Allies and Axis Powers using the Swedish American Line's chartered ocean liners Gripsholm and Drottningholm....
The Tenement Museum in NYC posts internees’ stories
The Tenement Museum of New York City has an online exhibit highlighting the experiences of some former German American and Latin American internees. These brief accounts were written by students of St. Mary's University, San Antonio, TX, as part of a year-long history...
Micro-documentaries about internment
As part of a year-long project (2018-19) highlighting the internment and expatriation of German American and Latin Americans during WWII, history students of St. Mary's University, San Antonio, TX, made a number of small documentary films about internment. With the...
75th anniversary of internee exchanges to be held February 14-15, 2018 around NYC
On February 14-15, the public is invited to attend free events planned by St. Mary's University students and staff to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the M.S. Gripsholm voyage to Europe, carrying German American and Latin American internee families to be exchanged...
John Christgau, GAIC board member, passes away unexpectedly
Our good friend and fellow GAIC board member, John Christgau, passed away unexpectedly on August 21, 2018 in Belmont, California. We first connected with John through his book, ENEMIES: WORLD WAR II ALIEN INTERNMENT, one of the first definitive books about the...
SS “Gripsholm” repatriates reunion Feb. 15, 2019
A reunion for SS Gripsholm repatriates will be held Feb. 15, 2019 at 4:00 PM at Pier F, Jersey City, New Jersey, 1Harborside Place, Jersey City, NJ 07311. Planned by students of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, who have been studying German American and...
St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas, hosts “Day of Remembrance” for German American WWII internment
St. Mary’s University, based in San Antonio, Texas, is hosting a “Day of Remembrance” in Chicago on Friday, Oct. 26, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of internment of German Americans during World War II. Three child-internees are featured in this Chicago...
“The War Outside,” young adult novel about Crystal City, TX Internment Camp, recently published
The War Outside, by Monica Hesse, is set in the confines of the Crystal City, Texas Family Internment Camp during WW II. Teenagers Haruko, a Japanese American from Colorado, and Margot, whose German American family are from Iowa, form a friendship, even as life in the...
The Tango War: The Struggle for the Hearts, Minds, and Riches of Latin America during World War II
Mc Conahay, Mary Jo. The Tango War: The Struggle for the Hearts, Minds, and Riches of Latin America during World War II. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2018. The author is a reporter who has covered wars in Central America and economics in the Middle East. She details...
“The Tango War,” new book on U.S. involvement in Latin America
The Tango War: The Struggle for the Hearts, Minds, and Riches of Latin America during World War II, written by Mary Jo McConahay, is now available. The author is a reporter who has covered wars in Central America and economics in the Middle East. She details efforts...
Crystal City, Texas Family Internment Camp map
Crystal City, Texas Family Internment Camp map (2018) annotated by former internee Werner Ulrich—includes plot plans, drawings of building types, and location of work areas, as well as lists of internees held in the camp, births, and deaths. Staff, including teachers...
The Herrmann family story on-line
Michael Murphy contacted us recently, sharing the World War II internment reminiscences of his grandparents, Hans and Ella Herrmann, and giving us a bit of their history. His mother, Barbara, was twelve at the time. Placed in a temporary holding facility in Chicago,...
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...
Crystal City Internment Camp mystery
Tommy Dyo recently offered us photographs of Annie Kaiser, Hildegard Voelker, and Betty, women who worked with his father, Ken, in the hospital at the Crystal City, TX Internment Camp. Interned with his father, Tsutomu Dyo, Ken was not a doctor, probably serving as a...
Bismarck, ND WW II internment camp structure to be reassembled
A piece of WW II history, a former barrack building, "T-23," used to house male internees from the U.S. and Latin America at the Fort Lincoln, Bismarck, ND Internment Camp, is being reassembled. The Missouri Valley Historical Society has a $2,000 grant from...
“Only the Oaks Remain” exhibit in San Francisco
"Only the Oaks Remain: The story of Tuna Canyon Detention Station" in WW II, is on display from June 9, 2018-January 31, 2019, at 640 Old Mason Street, Presidio of San Francisco, CA 94129. Sponsored by the National Japanese American Historical Society, the exhibit...
Ft. Lincoln, ND Civil Liberties Justice Center One Step Closer
The United Tribes Technical College, whose campus encompasses the former Fort Lincoln Internment Camp near Bismarck, North Dakota, has completed a Condition and Feasibility Assessment that provides recommendations to rehabilitate a former hospital and the hospital...
Santa Barbara Historical Museum to host two exhibits about internment
The Santa Barbara Historical Museum is hosting two exhibits on WW II detention and internment in the area. Only the Oaks Remain: the Story of Tuna Canyon Detention Station and The Detention & Internment of Santa Barbarans During WWII opened February 1, 2018 at 136...
Good Neighbor Renditions and the Enemy Alien: the Latin American Civilian Internees of World War II and the Integrity of the Good Neighbor Policy
"Good Neighbor Renditions and the Enemy Alien: the Latin American Civilian Internees of World War II and the Integrity of the Good Neighbor Policy," a University of Colorado, Boulder honors undergraduate thesis by Casey VanSise, "...uses the case of WW II “renditions”...
“World War II Internment of a German-American Couple in Hawaii” now online
Alfred and Susan Schmidt married in Germany in 1932, moved to the U.S. the following year, eventually working their way to Honolulu. In 1940, he and his wife became naturalized American citizens, changing their name to Smith. Their experiences with internment at...
“World War II Internment of a German-American Couple in Hawaii”
Fiset, Louis; “World War II Internment of a German-American Couple in Hawaii” June 2012, American Philatelist, Journal of the American Philatelic Society. It is reproduced here by permission of the author.
Detained, Interned, Incarcerated: U.S. Enemy Noncombatant Mail in World War II
Fiset, Louis. Collectors Club of Chicago, 2010. This is a compilation of mail by noncombatant civilians, diplomats and Axis merchant seamen held by the U.S. government during World War II, while awaiting exchange for U.S. citizens held behind enemy lines.
Ft. Meade, Maryland censuses now available
Ft. George G. Meade was a US Army military post located southwest of Baltimore in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. It apparently served primarily as a temporary detention site for German, Italian and some Japanese internees before they shipped to other locations. A...
The Diplomat’s Daughter
Tenabe, Karin. Washington Square Press, 2017. Set partially in the Crystal City, Texas Internment Camp, this novel follows the romance of Emi Kato, a Japanese diplomat's daughter, and Christian Lange, a young German from Wisconsin, during their internment and...
New documentary on WWII internment airs
“Camp of the Innocents,” published May 24, 2017 on YouTube, is a documentary film about the Camp Algiers Alien Detention Station in Louisiana (near New Orleans), the Latin American civilians housed there, and the WW II Enemy Alien Control Program. Linked with...
“Detailed official” lists of internees, 1942-43
"Detailed official" lists of people of German ethnicity ordered interned—include name, date and location of birth, address when taken, next of kin and their address, occupation, and place of internment as of a specific date. Most of these internees were from the U.S.,...
Ellis Island petition for release of German civilian internees
A petition was submitted to Congress on January 24, 1947, signed by 156 internees held on Ellis Island, asking for their release, rather than enforced deportation/repatriation to Germany. They requested the same for internees being held in Crystal City and other...
Ellis Island 29 Feb 1944 name list
A three page Immigration and Naturalization Service list of civilian enemy aliens of German ethnicity in custody on Ellis Island, New York Harbor, New York on 29 February 1944. (A few internees of Italian and Japanese ethnicity are included.) NARA, RG 59, State Dept,...
1944 lists of internees held in various detention stations
Following are short lists of internees of German ethnicity held in a variety of internment situations around the country during 1944. The lists include name, sex, age, alien registration number, occupation, country in which they were picked up, and in some cases, next...
Algiers, Louisiana Alien Detention Station featured in documentary
Published May 24, 2017, "Camp of the Innocents" is a documentary film about the Camp Algiers Alien Detention Station in Louisiana (near New Orleans), the Latin American civilians housed there, and the WW II Enemy Alien Control Program. Produced by Jack Collins, Joe...
30 June 1945 Ft. Lincoln census
Ft. Lincoln, Bismarck, North Dakota, the largest WW II internment camp for men in the U.S., housed more than 4000 civilians, mostly of German and Japanese ethnicity, during the war, closing its doors in 1946. This 30 June 1945 census of German Americans and Latin...
Stringtown, OK internment camp rosters and inspection reports now available
31 Aug 1942, 30 Sept 1942, and 1 Dec 1942 rosters of Stringtown internees are now available online, as well as two inspection reports. The first report, dated 25-28 June 1942, was highly critical of the facility and the care inmates were receiving. By 21-23 September,...
Seagoville, TX internment camp inspection reports
During WWII, internment camps in the U.S. were visited periodically by neutral representatives, usually from the International Red Cross, or from Switzerland, acting for German interests, or Spain, overseeing Japanese interests. These representatives were...
Inspection report for Ft. Lincoln, Bismarck, ND, 1945
On October 24-25, 1945, Ft. Lincoln was inspected by Dr. Rudolph Fischer, Swiss Legation representative, and Van Arsdale Turner, Department of State. Activated in 1942 as an internment camp for civilians of Japanese ethnicity, it later became exclusively a camp for...
Seagoville, Texas internment camp census—1943
In 1942, the facilities of Seagoville, formerly a prison, were converted into an internment facility to hold German, Japanese and Italian U.S. resident and Latin American internees. Although it was intended to serve primarily as a facility for families in which both...
Stringtown, OK internment camp rosters online
During the early months of World War II, many internees were sent to the prison in Stringtown, Oklahoma, operated by the U.S. Army. The prison started accepting internees on March 30, 1942. Located four miles north of Stringtown, the camp was previously a sub-prison,...
Three Stringtown, Oklahoma Alien Internment Camp inspection reports
Three Stringtown, Oklahoma, Alien Internment Camp inspection reports are now online. The first, written by Max Habicht, representing the Swiss Legation in charge of German interests, and Whitney Young, Department of State, described a visit from 25-28 June 1942,...
1943, 1944 inspection reports of Sharp Park, CA Alien Detention Camp
On 26 July 1943, Captain Antonio R. Martin, Spanish Vice-Consul at San Francisco, CA, James E. Henderson, representing the Department of State, and A. S. Hudson, Acting District Director of Immigration and Naturalization, San Francisco, CA, visited Sharp Park, CA...
Ellis Island inspection reports on online
Three inspection reports by the International Committee of the Red Cross delegates describe facilities and chronicle life in internment on Ellis Island during 1943-1946. (The last internees, of German ethnicity, were released in 1948.) Although the National Park...
Three inspection reports for the Ellis Island, NY, Internment Camp
Internment camps in the U.S. were periodically inspected by representatives of neutral nations or organizations, to see that facilities were adequate and internees were treated appropriately. In 3 December 1943, Alfred Cardinaux, a representative of the International...
2002 Interview with John Schmitz, former internee
John Schmitz, was born in the Bronx, New York, on October 12, 1936 and interned, with his family, in the Crystal City, Texas, Internment Camp between January 1943 and July 1946. He was interviewed at the Institute of Texas Culture, University of Texas San Antonio on...
S.S. Drottningholm documents available
On July 15, 1942, the S.S. Drottningholm left Pier F, Jersey City, New Jersey bound for Gothenburg, Sweden, where internees were sent on to Germany and Italy, to be exchanged for U.S. citizens. The German American Internee Coalition recently received a number of...
WWII Internment Camp, ‘Camp Algiers’, Louisiana, held Jews, too
WWNO, a radio station in New Orleans, LA, featured the WWII history of Camp Algiers, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, in a two part podcast. During the WWII years, this facility served as a receiving and detention station for Latin Americans, including...
1942 Camp Kenedy, Texas census now on-line
Are you looking for a loved one you believe was interned in the United States? Thanks to Martin Huwart, with the help of independent researcher Satu Haase-Webb, we now have the 31 Oct 1942 Camp Kenedy census posted on our website. Most of the men held in this...
2016 Immigration Law Lecture Series (1 of 3)
October 4, 2016—In the first lecture of a three-part series from the Office of Vince Ryan, Harris County Attorney, and the Harris County Law Library, nationally-recognized immigration law expert, Charles C. Foster, discussed the legal aspects of the immigrants and...
2016 Immigration Law Lecture Series (2 of 3)
October 11, 2016—Former U.S. Ambassador Chase Untermeyer is joined by Special Assistant County Attorney Terence O’Rourke to discuss foreign policy aspects of the immigration issues facing detainees at the Crystal City camp and correlated case studies. This is lecture...
New information about Camp Kenedy, Texas Internment Camp
Thanks to Martin Huwart, who contacted GAIC about finding records of his great-uncle, interned in the U.S. from Haiti. He, with the help of independent researcher Satu Haase-Webb, found and shared with us a number of documents and photographs about Camp Kenedy, Texas,...
2016 Immigration law lecture features author of “The Train to Crystal City”
October 18, 2016—Author Jan Jarboe Russell, whose work "The Train to Crystal City" was selected as the 2016 Gulf Coast Reads featured book, discusses the Enemy Alien Control Program of WW II, the arrests of people from the U.S. and Latin America, the World War II...
Lists of Names
Website visitors searching for more information about the U.S. internment programs of WW II will be interested in our numerous lists of internees, especially it they are wondering whether their family members were interned and if so, where. Besides offering help...
Were Jews interned by the U.S.?
Yes. In a Feb 1943 letter exchange between Jewish internees being held at Camp Kenedy, Texas and W. Bruppacher, Department of German Interests, Legation of Switzerland, charged with camp inspection and oversight of internees of German ethnicity, they express concerns...
1942 Fort Sam Houston, Texas, internee list available
Recently a 1942 list of internees held in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, was made available to our organization by Martin Huwart, who contacted us about uncovering the internment history of his great-uncle. With the help of independent researcher Satu Haase-Webb, a number...
“Train to Crystal City” shortlisted for Dayton Literary Peace Prize
The Train to Crystal City, by Jan Jarboe Russell, has been shortlisted for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the only literary prize in the U.S. that recognizes the value of literature to help promote peace and reconciliation throughout the world. The winner will be...
Daily Life at Crystal City Internment Camp
Have you ever wondered what daily life was like for internees held in a WWII internment camp in the U.S.? Caitlin T. Dietze's thesis, “Daily Life at Crystal City Internment Camp 1942-1945” (2016), was recently published on-line by the University of New Orleans. She...
12 Dec 1942, Marshall Memo: shipping Latin Americans for exchange with Axis Nations
George Marshall Memo, 12 Dec 1942 Box 71, Subject Files, 1939-1954, Box 7; Accession Job No. N3-59-87-15, Records of the Special War Problems Division, Department of State, NA (?) — shipping of Latin Americans/exchange with Axis nations
Secretary of State’s response to FDR questions about repatriation
Department of State memo, Aug 1942, Cordell Hull to FDR Franklin D. Roosevelt Library’s Digital Collections, Series 2:Confidential File, Box 9, State Department, 1941-1942—discusses continued repatriation of enemy aliens in U.S. and Latin America in exchange for...
Distressed Seamen or Internees?
On January 19, 1939, having scuttled their boat off Cuba to avoid its capture by the British, German sailors from the luxury liner, the S.S. Columbus, were brought to Angel Island, California, March 1, 1940. At first these internees were labeled “distressed seamen...
Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition
The Tuna Canyon Detention Station Coalition formed in 2013 "to preserve the stories of the Japanese, Germans, Italians, Japanese Peruvians and others at the Tuna Canyon Detention Station, which was operated by the U.S. Department of Justice during World War II and was...
“Real People”—another family
Sigrid Banzhaf Toye shares some of her family's experiences during WW II with us. Her father, Eugen, mother, Emmy, and Sigrid were visiting her grandmother in Germany when war broke out. Scrambling to find passage back to the U.S., where her parents were legal...
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...
DOJ Office of Redress Administration Expands Redress for Internees
30 Aug 1993 Department of Justice's “Office of Redress Administration Announces Two New Eligibility Categories for World War II Internees” issues a press release authorizing redress payments for Japanese Americans born in internment camps to “volunteer internee”...
Latin American “Blacklists” of July 1941 & May 1942 posted
An internet search found two interesting WWII "Blacklists" on the Fraser Federal Reserve Archive website. The first includes The Proclaimed List of Certain Blocked Nationals: July 17, 1941, the Presidential Proclamation 2497 authorizing the list, and information for...
Internment Camp deaths from Crystal City, TX now on-line
Internment camp deaths and photographs of the three headstones at the Edgewood Cemetery in Crystal City are now on-line, thanks to Werner Ulrich, a former internee, who worked with Carmen Sanchez Diaz and Jose F. Cazares, residents of Crystal City, Texas, to collect...
Internee Graves at Edgewood Cemetery, Crystal City, Texas
The headstones from four internee graves were photographed by Werner Ulrich, a former internee, at the Edgewood Cemetery, Crystal City, Texas. He found no others. All of these internee families were from Latin America. (An earlier article mis-identified the...
Crystal City, Texas Internment Camp list of deaths
Crystal City, Texas Internment Camp list of deaths—from information provided by Carmen Sanchez Diaz and Jose F. Cazares, residents of Crystal City, Texas. List courtesy of Werner Ulrich, a former internee. (2016)
Schools Behind Barbed Wire: the Untold Story of Wartime Internment and the Children of Arrested Enemy Aliens
Riley, Karen L. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield. 2002. Often overlooked in the infamous history of U.S. internment during World War II is the plight of internee children. Drawn from personal interviews and multiple primary source materials, Schools behind Barbed...
“Train to Crystal City” wins award
On April 17, 2016, "The Train To Crystal City", written by Jan Jarboe Russell, won the prize for best non-fiction book of the year at the Texas Institute of Letters banquet. There were 40 entries this year so the competition was steep.
Pilgrims of War: a Love Story
Veno, Carl A. Pilgrims of War: a Love Story. Fedeli Publishing Inc., 2011. (a novel) Beautiful Italian doctor Magdalena Russo is headed to a medical conference when the ship she’s on is seized at the Panama Canal. World War II is raging, and the passengers aboard the...
Recollections of Internment and Repatriation
The Missouri Humanities Council a tax-exempt, non-profit organization affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities, published the internment and repatriation recollections of Arthur D. Jacobs, Major, USAF Retired, in Volume 3, No. 1: January 25, 2006.
Interview with Karen Ebel, President of the German American Internee Coalition
Karen Ebel, President of the German American Internee Coalition and daughter of a former internee, is interviewed by Arndt Peltner of Radio Goethe, on April 16, 2009. Interview
Interview with John Christgau, Author of “Enemies”
John Christgau, the author of Enemies: World War II Alien Internment, is interviewed by Arndt Peltner of Radio Goethe, in November 2009. Interview
GAIC On-line
Welcome to the new GAIC website! We've added new material and redesigned the site to make navigation easier. Take a look around, and then feel free to contact us with comments or concerns.
WW II History of Fort Meade
In two recent articles, the Baltimore Sun described the role Fort Meade, Maryland played as an internment facility during WW II, as well as the switch over to housing prisoners of war in 1943.
Crystal City Family Internment Camp on Facebook
Werner Ulrich, a former Crystal City, Texas internee, recently started a Facebook page where former internees and interested viewers can discuss internment and share photographs and memories. Check it out!
WW II Enemy Aliens—State of Wisconsin Collection of Letters and Reports
An on-line collection of letters concerning enemy aliens of German ethnicity, by internees themselves, as well as official reports on individuals and internment facilities.
Commemorating Crystal City: The Transnational Dimension of German American Internment Experiences
Commemorating Crystal City: The Transnational Dimension of German American Internment Experiences was published on-line in the American Studies Journal, number 59, (2015). Author and historian Ingrid Gessner is Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University...
Report on traveling conditions of group of German citizens from Costa Rica, 22 Feb 1943
Report on traveling conditions of group of German citizens from Costa Rica, 22 Feb 1943: from folder 383.7, Camp Crystal City, NARA (exact location is being investigated) — Mention is made of “Negro members of the ship’s personnel” on page 2; that description was not...
Wartime Treatment Study Act—HR 1425 and S 564
Home Events History Internment Camps Real People Resources ContactTo prevent possible future erosion of our civil liberties, the German American Internee Coalition believes the federal government must fully review and acknowledge its wartime civil liberties...
Montevideo Resolution 21 May 1943
The Emergency Advisory Committee for Political Defense, meeting in Montevideo, adopts U.S. Department of Justice/State Department resolutions to allow U.S. to provide detention accommodations and shipping expenses for Latin Axis nationals to the U.S., a process...
1947 U.S. State Department, Immigration & Naturalization letter to Crystal City, TX internee
This 1947 letter to an internee held at Crystal City, TX, offers a thirty day parole from the Camp to prepare to depart the United States.
Department of Justice, 1942 Regulations for Enemy Aliens
Department of Justice, 1942 Regulations for Enemy Aliens A booklet with cover letter, lists “conduct to be observed by alien enemies.” (courtesy of an internee family)
White to Lafoon memo, 30 Jan 1946
30 Jan 1946 Memorandum in "Statistics," Box 70, Special War Problems Division, RG 59, NA — numbers/ethnicities of Latin Americans brought to the U.S. and countries from which they came
Nov 1945 U. S. State Department memo to Latin American countries
This U.S. State Department memorandum requests that Latin American countries with citizens or residents being held as enemy aliens in the United States, let U.S. officials know whether they want to resume responsibility for these individuals, or allow the U.S. to...
4 Jan 1946 U.S. State Department Notice to Latin American Internees
This 4 Jan 1946 State Department memo was sent to all Latin American internees and parolees, attempting to answer questions internees had about when they might be released and whether or not they would be allowed to return to their homes in Latin America.
The Ennis Transcript
Railroader Christmas Cards
List of Fort Lincoln Internees
Max Ebel’s Internment Order
US Internment Camp & Facility Map
National Register of Historic Places nomination Crystal City, Texas
Download the National Register of Historic Places nomination Crystal City, Texas (PDF)
Crystal City Family Internment Camp Interpretive Panels Exhibit – Final Plan
Download & View the Crystal City Family Internment Camp - interpretive panels (PDF)
Schmitz Letters for Immigration
1949-01-28 INS-Schmitz Letter
1949-01-27 S. 658, US Senate Bill
Christa Schmitz’s Birth Certificate
Alien Enemies Act of 1918
The U.S. Sedition Act 16 May, 1918 United States, Statutes at Large, Washington, D.C., 1918, Vol. XL, pp 553 ff. A portion of the amendment to Section 3 of the Espionage Act of June 15, 1917. The act was subsequently repealed in 1921. SECTION 3. Whoever, when the...
1941-05-09 Ellis Island Hearing
28 Mar 1944 Letter: Arrival at New Orleans of 540 German and Japanese Internees
Oral History Interviews of Internment Camp Administrators
California State University, Fullerton has posted some oral history interviews of administrators of WWII camps holding civilians. Amy N. Stannard was the first woman to oversee an internment facility. She worked at Seagoville, Texas, where the first civilian prisoners...
German Sailors on the High Desert: a WW II Detention Camp at Fort Stanton
"German Sailors on the High Desert: A WW II Detention Camp at Fort Stanton" was written by Tomas Jaehn, an historian who works as archivist and librarian at the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Published for El Palacio, the oldest museum...
“Treatment of Latin Americans of Japanese Descent, European Americans, and Jewish Refugees in WWII”-Hearing video
19 March 2009—Committee on the Judiciary - Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law. Video provided by U.S. House of Representatives and posted by House.Resource.Org.
World War II Enemy Aliens Program
World War II Enemy Aliens Program (2009)—National Archives and Records Administration, C-Span Video Library Archivist Lynn Goodsell talks about various aspects of the World War II “enemy alien control” programs and related records available at the National...
Fort Stanton: a German Internment Camp
In 1941, German Merchant seamen from the scuttled luxury liner S.S. Columbus found themselves held in the U.S. America was not yet involved in WWII, and Fort Stanton, New Mexico, was chosen to house the 400 plus sailors. (More information about Fort Stanton)
Michael Luick-Thrams on WWII German American Internment
Historian, writer, and lecturer, Michael Luick-Thrams worked with TRACES, a non-profit educational organization created to gather, preserve and present stories of people from the Midwest and Germany or Austria who encountered each other during World War II. Begun in...
Langer Bill
LUDECKE V. WATKINS, 335 U.S. 160 (1948)
U.S. Supreme Court LUDECKE V. WATKINS, 335 U.S. 160 (1948) 335 U.S. 160 LUDECKE v. WATKINS, District Director of Immigration. No. 723. Argued May 3, 4, 1948. Decided June 21, 1948. Rehearing Denied Oct. 11, 1948. See . [ Ludecke v. Watkins 335 U.S. 160 (1948) ] [335...
Easter Bunny’s Visit to Ellis Island
An artistic inmate recounts the well-meaning Easter bunny’s ill-fated visit to the island:
Ellis Island Immigration Museum: Ellis Island Timeline
View the Ellis Island Immigration Museum: Ellis Island Timeline Over 12 million Immigrants passed through the halls of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum from 1892-1954. Ellis Island served as the gateway to the New World where immigrants came in search of freedom...
National Park Service: Ellis Island
Visit: U.S. NPS Ellis Island Official Website
Eiserloh Birth Report
Handbook of Texas Online, “World War II Internment Camps”
Handbook of Texas Online, Emily Brosveen, "World War II Internment Camps" describes the three Immigration and Naturalization Service internment camps in Texas, located in Seagoville, Kennedy, and Crystal City.
Birth Certificate from Camp Seagoville
Alien Enemy Detention Facility
A government propaganda film about Crystal City, TX internment camp, 1945.
Instructions to Teachers
Download: Instructions to Teachers
Congressional Report—”Treatment of Latin Americans of Japanese Descent, European Americans and Jewish Refugees during World War II”
Home Events History Internment Camps Real People Resources Contact 19 March 2009 Hearing Report—"Treatment of Latin Americans of Japanese Descent, European Americans and Jewish Refugees during World War II" by the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees,...
USAT Colonel Frederick C. Johnson, October 1944
USAT Colonel Frederick C. Johnson, October 1944, docked in New Orleans, Louisiana Download: USAT Colonel Frederick C. Johnson Manifest
USAT Cuba, November 1943
USAT Cuba, November 1943, docked in New Orleans, Louisiana Download: USAT_Cuba_11_1943
USAT Puebla, February 1943
USAT Puebla, February 1943, docked in San Pedro, California. Download the complete: USAT Puebla Manifest
USAT Cuba, October 1942
USAT Cuba, October 1942, docked in New Orleans, Louisiana (pgs. 5, 6--Note line 2: Leo Friedman; line 5: Eric Joseph; and line 6: Leo Keiles, are listed as Jewish) Download: USAT Cuba_10_1942
USAT John T. Clem, June 1942
USAT John T. Clem, June 1942, docked in New Orleans, Louisiana Download: USAT_John_T_Clem_6_1942
USAT Evangeline, June 1942
USAT Evangeline, June 1942, docked in Tampa, Florida (two of six pages) Download: USAT Evangeline 1942
SS Atlantida, June 1942
SS Atlantida, June 1942, docked in New Orleans, Louisiana (note written comments in column 12) Download: SS Atlantida
SS Etolin, April 1942
SS Etolin, April 1942 docked in California Download: SS Etolin Manifest
SS Ernest Hinds, January 1942
SS Ernest Hinds, January 1942, docked in New Orleans, Louisiana Download: SS Ernest Hinds Manifest
18 Aug 1942, Report on Visit to Detention Stations for Civilian Internees in the United States of America
18 Aug 1942, Report on Visit to Detention Stations for Civilian Internees in the United States of America (25-28 Jun 1942); Dr. Max Habicht, Delegate for the War Prisoners of the Legation of Switzerland, Washington, D.C.
Agreements with enemy countries for the exchange of officials and non-officials.
"Agreements with enemy countries for the exchange of officials and non-officials." United States Department of State/Foreign relations of the United States diplomatic papers, 1942. General; the British Commonwealth; the Far East (1942); p 285-449. University of...
“German Clandestine Activities in South America in World War II” by David P. Mowrey (NSA)
"German Clandestine Activities in South America in World War II" by David P. Mowrey (NSA) "...presents a thorough account of German intelligence organizations engaged in clandestine work in South America and a well-researched, detailed report of the U.S. response to...
FBI Records on Custodial Detention Arrests in 1943
Click the Link to visit the FBI's 'Vault' document library. (This will open in a new window) This site is not affiliated with GAIC.info
Letter to a daughter, from Bismarck, ND, 24 September 1944—Adolf Hamann
Letter to a daughter, from Bismarck, ND, 24 September 1944—Adolf Hamann
Letter to family, San Jose, Costa Rica, 17 July 1942—Starr Pait Gurcke
Letter to family, San Jose, Costa Rica, 17 July 1942—Starr Pait Gurcke
Letter requesting transfer of funds, Kenedy, Texas, 27 May 1942—John Deche
Letter requesting transfer of funds, Kenedy, Texas, 27 May 1942—John Deche Download: Camp Kenedy John Deche ltr
Letter requesting transfer of funds, Kenedy, Texas, 9 July 1942—Enea Carozzi
Letter requesting transfer of funds, Kenedy, Texas, 9 July 1942—Enea Carozzi
Letter to Francis Biddle, Attorney General of the United States, 9 February 1942—Arthur and Margarethe Mayer
Letter to Francis Biddle, Attorney General of the United States, 9 February 1942—Arthur and Margarethe Mayer
Letter to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 31 December 1942—Theodor Graber
Letter to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 31 December 1942—Theodor Graber
Letter to Senator William Langer from a group of Ft. Lincoln internees, Jan 1946—Requests Help to Avoid Forced Repatriation
Letter to Senator William Langer from a group of Ft. Lincoln internees, January 29, 1946—requests help to avoid forced repatriation (provided by an internee family) A petition was also submitted to Congress on January 24, 1947, signed by 156 internees held on Ellis...
1942-1948, INS Records Related to the Detention of Enemy Aliens during World War II
Name Files List, Special War Problems Division, 1942-1948 found in "INS Records Related to the Detention of Enemy Aliens during World War II," Historical Reference Library and Reading Room Section, Informational Service Branch, 1991
21 Feb 1944, Latin American Association letter
Latin American Association letter, 21 Feb 1944 — enumerates the Latin American German civilians and wounded German soldiers on board the Gripsholm on the 1944 repatriation voyage (in German)
Signatures of 117 Guatemalan deportees, 1942
Signatures of 117 Guatemalan deportees, 1942. From S.S. Drottningholm, a Swedish ship used in exchanges of Latin American civilians to Germany — Los alemanes en Guatemala, 1828-1944, by Regina Wagner, Guatemala, 1996.
27 Mar 1942, Schofield to Attorney General Memo: Arrangements for Shipping, Guarding, Housing Diplomatic and Non-Diplomatic Prisoners
Schofield to Attorney General, 27 Mar 1942, 740.00115 EW 1939/2426, RG 59 Central Decimal File, 1940-1944; Box 2822—250/32/18/07 — arrangements for shipping, guarding, housing diplomatic and non-diplomatic prisoners
Roster of Internees (German) Picked Up in Central America During 1943
Roster of Internees; Internees (German) Picked Up in Central America During 1943; Records Relating to German Civilian Internees During World War II, 1941-1946; entry A1 466J; Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, RG 389, NA.
22 Feb 1943, Report on traveling conditions of group of German citizens from Costa Rica
Report on traveling conditions of group of German citizens from Costa Rica, 22 Feb 1943: from folder 383.7, Camp Crystal City, NARA (exact location is being investigated) — Mention is made of "Negro members of the ship's personnel" on page 2; that description was not...
30 Mar 1943, Raymond Ickes, Memo: Procedures to Decide Whom to Imprison, Intern, Repatriate
Raymond Ickes, Memorandum to the Minister, 30 Mar 1943: RG 84; Costa Rica; U.S. Embassy, San Jose; Classified General Records; File 711.5; UD 2353; Box 25 [Old Box 26]—350/53/27/05 — discusses procedures to decide whom to imprison, intern, repatriate
Notice to Internees from Latin America
Notice to Internees from Latin America, 1946. (provided by an internee family) discusses State Department plans to release or deport Latin American enemy aliens currently held in the U.S.
3 Nov 1942, Memo: Policies of Deportation to U.S. and Repatriation. Determining “Dangerousness”
Memorandum regarding the Activities of the United States Government, 3 Nov 1942, 3, RG 59, Subject Files, Box 180, location 250/49/23/7, Records of the Special War Problems Division, NA — discusses policies of deportation to U.S. and repatriation/how to determine...
9 Nov 1942, Hull to Biddle Memo: Discusses Problems with Repatriation Process.
Hull to Biddle, 9 Nov 1942, 740.00115 EW 1939/4570, RG 59 Central Decimal File, 1940-1944; Box 2835—250/32/19/02 — discusses problems with repatriation process.
German Nationals Repatriated from South and Central America” and “German Nationals Repatriated Direct from South and Central America
"German Nationals Repatriated from South and Central America" and "German Nationals Repatriated Direct from South and Central America" Records of the Special War Problems Division: Subject Files, 1939-1954; Entry A1 1357, Boxes 116 and 120, NA — Lists 1813...
25 April 1946, German Nationals Deported by the Other American Republics Who Were Deported Via the United States
German Nationals Deported by the Other American Republics Who Were Deported Via the United States, 25 Apr 1946, folder 711.5, Ecuador: Quito Embassy Confidential File, Box 35, RG 84, NA -- Lists 3317 individuals, mostly in family groups, sent to Europe to be exchanged...
Department of State Press release, Nov. 1945
Department of State Press release, Nov. 1945 (provided by an internee family)
Nov 1943, Special War Problems Divison (SWPD) Memos: Keep U.S. Role in Fingering Latin Americans for Deportation Untraceable
Cabot, Bonsal, Wright, Knapp memos: Nov 1943— JM Cabot to Wright and Bonsal, 15 Nov 1943, L. Knapp to Wright, Lafoon, Clattenburg, 23 Nov 1943, and JM Cabot to Special Division, 24 Nov 1943, in folder "Important Papers," Name Files of Enemy Aliens 1942-8, Box 31,...
Black List – El Salvador
Lista Negra-El Salvador/Black List-El Salvador (provided by an internee family)
Black List – Costa Rica
Black List-Costa Rica (provided by an internee family)
Black List – Colombia
Black List - Columbia (provided by an internee family)
Bell to Ennis Memo, 7 Dec 1943 : Discusses Evaluation of Internees’ “Dangerousness.”
Bell to Ennis Memo, 7 Dec 1943 "711.5," Costa Rica," San José Embassy Confidential File, Box 26, RG84, stack 350, 53/27/5NA — discusses evaluation of internees' "dangerousness."
28 March 1944 – USAT Cuba Memo: Arrival and Treatment of Latin Americans in Algiers, LA
Bannerman to Fitch, 28 March 1944. USAT Cuba Memo; Box 71, Subject Files, 1939-1954, Box 7; Accession Job No. N3-59-87-15, Records of the Special War Problems Division, Department of State, NA — arrival and treatment of Latin Americans in Algiers, LA
12 February 1946 Arrest Warrant
Arrest Warrant, 12 February 1946 — warrant accusing an internee of illegal entry into U.S. (provided by an internee family)
Letter: 7 August 1948 W. F. Kelly to A. Vulliet
Kelly to Vulliet Letter 7 August 1948 W. F. Kelly to A. Vulliet, 9 Aug 1948, reprinted in The World War Two Experience, The Internment of German-American, vol. IV, German-Americans in the World Wars, Arthur D. Jacobs and Joseph E. Fallon, eds. (Münich: K. G. Saur,...
Stringtown, Oklahoma Internment Camp Rules
Stringtown, Oklahoma Internment Camp rules Download: Stringtown Rules
1942 Map of Stringtown Internment Camp
1942 map of Stringtown Internment Camp, Oklahoma, by Army Corp of Engineers, laying out water distribution (courtesy Bill Streifer)
Ft. Lincoln Internment Camp Rules
Ft. Lincoln Internment Camp Rules, (English) (German), Bismarck, ND (provided by an internee's famly) Download (English): Ft. Lincoln Internee rules English Download (German): Ft. Lincoln Internee rules German
1947 Immigration and Naturalization Letter Offering Thirty Day Parole to Internees Who Leave the U.S.
1947 Immigration and Naturalization letter offering thirty day parole to internees who leave the U.S. on their own (provided by an internee)
Crystal City, Texas Internment Camp List of Births
Crystal City, Texas Internment Camp List of Births—courtesy Anita O'Brien, whose parents Johann and Hilda Schmeelk, had a daughter, Evelyn, while interned there. In addition, Dilys Neugebauer was born in the camp on March 5, 1946.
1945 Crystal City, Texas Camp Census
1945 Crystal City, Texas Camp Census (German American and Latin American prisoners) NARA RG 59, State Dep't, Spec War Prob Div, E 1357, Subj Files, Box 123, Crystal City, 31 Dec 1945.
1944 Crystal City, Texas Camp Census
1944 Crystal City, Texas Camp Census (German American and Latin American prisoners plus one Italian family from Honduras)
26 Jan 1944 Letter Listing the German Internees’ Desires Regarding Repatriation to Germany or Latin America
26 Jan 1944 letter from J. L. O'Rourke, Officer in Charge at Crystal City to W. F. Kelly, Assistant Commissioner for Alien Control, listing the German internees' desires regarding repatriation to Germany or Latin America
Crystal City, Texas Family Internment Camp Map – Annotated by Former Internee Werner Ulrich
Crystal City, Texas Family Internment Camp map annotated by former internee Werner Ulrich—includes plot plans, drawings of building types, and location of work areas, as well as lists of internees held in the camp, births, and deaths. There are lists of staff,...
16 July 1943 DOJ memo, declaring Custodial Detention Lists “Inherently unreliable”
16 July 1943 memo. Francis Biddle, Attorney General to Hugh B. Cox, Assistant AG and J.E. Hoover, FBI, declaring custodial detention lists "inherently unreliable" and stating they should not be used. Download: 16 Jul 1943 ltr Biddle_Custod_detention list
FBI Bulletin No. 69, 25 November, 1942, Part IA – Custodial Detention Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
FBI Bulletin No. 69, 25 November, 1942, part IA - Custodial Detention Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; First Series 1942; http://foia.fbi (website with specific bulletin no longer found) — orders families interned, if they wish to join family members
6 Jun 1942, Memorandum between War and Justice Departments on Enforcement of Contraband
6 Jun 1942, Memorandum between War and Justice Departments on Enforcement of Contraband, Curfew and Travel Regulations in the Western Defense Command; signed by Ennis and Assistant Chief of Staff, War Department
4 Jun 1942, FBI memo, Report on N. J. L. Pieper meetings
4 Jun 1942, FBI memo, Edward Tamm to Hoover — reports on N. J. L. Pieper meetings with Ennis and DeWitt
2 Jun 1942, FBI Memo, Report on Meetings with Western Defense Command Alien Enemy Control, Department of State
2 Jun 1942, FBI memo, Pieper (San Francisco Special Agent in Charge) to Hoover — report on meetings with General John DeWitt of the Western Defense Command and Edward Ennis, Director, Alien Enemy Control, Department of State.