Websites of Interest
RESOURCES
GOVERNMENTS & ORGANIZATIONS
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...
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...
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.
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...
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...
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
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.
Story Preservation Initiative
Story Preservation Initiative—who's mission "is to create and make available to the general public a diverse collection of oral histories of people who have exhibited a talent, passion, commitment, or way of living that has served to enrich the human experience. The...
American Jewish Archives Journal
"Jewish Internees in the American South, 1942-1945," by Harvey Strum; American Jewish Archives Journal.
Italian American website
Una Storia Segreta —Italian American website
German World Alliance
German World Alliance
Traces.org
TRACES.org
University of Texas, San Antonio 1979 oral history interviews with personnel of the Crystal City, Texas Internment Camp
University of Texas, San Antonio 1979 oral history interviews with personnel of the Crystal City, Texas Internment Camp—Superintendent of Schools, R. C. Tate, George Ferris, guard, Margaret N. Williams, secretary, Mona Bizzell Baskin, office employee (choice of...
University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Digital Collections
University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Digital Collections have numerous photographs of Crystal City, Camp Kenedy, and Seagoville internment camps, as well as some audio and video interviews.
Japanese, German, and Italian American and Latin American Internment
Texas Historical Commission: Japanese, German, and Italian American and Latin American Internment
Medical Care for Interned Enemy Aliens: A Role for the US Public Health Service in World War II
"Medical Care for Interned Enemy Aliens: A Role for the US Public Health Service in World War II" National Library of Medicine, by Louis Fiset, DDS, BA
Return to Sender: U.S. Censorship of Enemy Alien Mail in World War II
"Return to Sender: U.S. Censorship of Enemy Alien Mail in World War II." National Archives, Prologue Magazine, Spring 2001, Vol. 33, No. 1 by Louis Fiset, DDS, BA
Enemy Alien Program Overview
Enemy alien program overview National Archives and Records Administration website
AUTHORS & HISTORIANS
Art Jacobs’ Death
Art Jacobs, former internee, U.S. Air Force Major, and educator at Arizona State University, died November 20, 2023, at the age of 90, in Tempe, Arizona. Art was the one of the first former internees to educate the public about internment policies with a website, a...
John Christgau
Author and historian, John Christgau wrote the first book published in the United States about the Enemy Alien Control Program, Enemies.
Heidi Gurcke Donald
Former internee and author Heidi Gurcke Donald's website
Jay Feldman
Author and historian Jay Feldman's website
Stephen Fox
Author and German internment researcher Stephen Fox’s website; his blog
Major Arthur D. Jacobs
Author and German internment researcher, Major Arthur D. Jacobs’ website
Priscilla Wegars
Author and historian Priscilla Wegars' website—She has a Table of Justice Department and U.S. Army Internment Camps and Detention Stations in the U.S. during World War II
MISCELLANEOUS WEBSITES
NPR Radio Diaries: U.S. Using Latin Americans as “Bartering Chips” during WWII
On June 29th, 2025, NPR aired a Radio Diaries story called "Inside a U.S. plan to use immigrants in Latin America as WWII bartering chips." Interviewees included Karin Harten Schramm, whose family were brought to the U.S. from Ecuador. Expecting to be exchanged, they...
Recent German Radio Programs about WWII Internment
Two German reporters based in the U.S. recently had new reports about WWII German American internment on German radio. San Francisco-based Christoph Droesser’s report, “Unter Naziverdacht: Deutsche Internierte in den USA im Zweiten Weltkrieg,” was followed by "Angst...
Art Jacobs’ Death
Art Jacobs, former internee, U.S. Air Force Major, and educator at Arizona State University, died November 20, 2023, at the age of 90, in Tempe, Arizona. Art was the one of the first former internees to educate the public about internment policies with a website, a...
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...
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”...
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...
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...
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...
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.
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...
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...
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
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.
Alien Enemy Detention Facility
A government propaganda film about Crystal City, TX internment camp, 1945.
Political Posters and Cartoons
Political posters and cartoons were used by the US government to convey its message about the enemy. More political cartoons by the famous children’s author, Dr. Seuss.
The U.S. Internment of Families from Latin America in World War II
"The U.S. Internment of Families from Latin America in World War II" by Max Paul Friedman, author of Nazis and Good Neighbors: The United States Campaign against the Germans of Latin America in World War II. (PDF)
“Fancy Skullduggery”; Economic Warfare, Enemy Civilians, and the Lessons of World War II
"Fancy Skullduggery"; Economic Warfare, Enemy Civilians, and the Lessons of World War II — a review of Max Friedman's Nazis and Good Neighbors by Regina U. Gramer
Nottebohm’s Nightmare: Have We Exorcised the Ghosts of WWII Detention Programs or Do They Still Haunt Guantanamo?
"Nottebohm's Nightmare: Have We Exorcised the Ghosts of WWII Detention Programs or Do They Still Haunt Guantanamo?" Cindy G. Buys, Southern Illinois School of Law. Her article can be downloaded there in PDF format
Lost Voices of Crystal City
"Lost Voices of Crystal City" from BBC Radio Four by BBC Radio Four. Released: 2004.
Story Preservation Initiative
Story Preservation Initiative—who's mission "is to create and make available to the general public a diverse collection of oral histories of people who have exhibited a talent, passion, commitment, or way of living that has served to enrich the human experience. The...
American Jewish Archives Journal
"Jewish Internees in the American South, 1942-1945," by Harvey Strum; American Jewish Archives Journal.
Italian American website
Una Storia Segreta —Italian American website
German World Alliance
German World Alliance
Traces.org
TRACES.org
University of Texas, San Antonio 1979 oral history interviews with personnel of the Crystal City, Texas Internment Camp
University of Texas, San Antonio 1979 oral history interviews with personnel of the Crystal City, Texas Internment Camp—Superintendent of Schools, R. C. Tate, George Ferris, guard, Margaret N. Williams, secretary, Mona Bizzell Baskin, office employee (choice of...
University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Digital Collections
University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Digital Collections have numerous photographs of Crystal City, Camp Kenedy, and Seagoville internment camps, as well as some audio and video interviews.
Japanese, German, and Italian American and Latin American Internment
Texas Historical Commission: Japanese, German, and Italian American and Latin American Internment
Zum Nazi verdammt
German language documentary available online. Zum Nazi verdammt. Das Schicksal deutschstämmiger US-Familien im 2. Weltkrieg, die in amerikanischen Lagern interniert wurden. Documentation directed by Michaela Kirst for Tangram Films, Deutschland, Bayr. Rundfunk, 2007,...
Medical Care for Interned Enemy Aliens: A Role for the US Public Health Service in World War II
"Medical Care for Interned Enemy Aliens: A Role for the US Public Health Service in World War II" National Library of Medicine, by Louis Fiset, DDS, BA
Return to Sender: U.S. Censorship of Enemy Alien Mail in World War II
"Return to Sender: U.S. Censorship of Enemy Alien Mail in World War II." National Archives, Prologue Magazine, Spring 2001, Vol. 33, No. 1 by Louis Fiset, DDS, BA
Enemy Alien Program Overview
Enemy alien program overview National Archives and Records Administration website
Legacy of Crystal City’s Internment Camps
Robyn Ross's 2014 article for the Texas Observer, "Legacy of Crystal City's Internment Camps," discusses the Crystal City, Texas, Family Internment Camp of WW II, which provided much needed work for many Crystal City residents. The article outlines the history of the...
John Christgau
Author and historian, John Christgau wrote the first book published in the United States about the Enemy Alien Control Program, Enemies.
Heidi Gurcke Donald
Former internee and author Heidi Gurcke Donald's website
Jay Feldman
Author and historian Jay Feldman's website
Stephen Fox
Author and German internment researcher Stephen Fox’s website; his blog
Major Arthur D. Jacobs
Author and German internment researcher, Major Arthur D. Jacobs’ website
Priscilla Wegars
Author and historian Priscilla Wegars' website—She has a Table of Justice Department and U.S. Army Internment Camps and Detention Stations in the U.S. during World War II
Two Articles about German Latin American Experiences during WW II
Zach Dyer, a journalist based in San José, Costa Rica, wrote two articles in December 2014, about German Costa Rican experiences with arrest, internment, and expulsion from Costa Rica. The first, published in The Guardian on December 5, 2014, is entitled "Lost story...
Crystal City Internment Camp Interpretive Panels Dedicated
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 3:30 P.M., eight new interpretive panels about the Crystal City, TX Internment Camp and the people kept there, were dedicated at the site. The Texas Historical Commission, Zavala County officials, the city of Crystal City, and former...