About Us
Our Mission:
We call for official US recognition of the WWII internment of civilians of German heritage.
–President Reagan officially recognized in 1988 the internment of people of Japanese heritage.
–President Clinton officially recognized in 2000 the internment of people of Italian heritage.
All three ethnicities–Japanese, Italian, and German–were interned in the SAME CAMPS at the SAME TIME.
Our project is dedicated to the memory of Eberhard Fuhr and his decades-long campaign to achieve official recognition of German American and German Latin American internment.
Upon learning of Eb’s death, January 22, 2018, Nicole and Teresa journeyed to Chicago and knelt down at 4800 Ellis Ave, the first site where he was interned one long summer as a 17-year old. Despite being imprisoned as an enemy alien, Eb insisted on being registered for US military service on his 18th birthday, as was required of all patriotic American men during World War II. We knelt there free, outside the fence, in the snow and the dark. We lit a candle, tied flowers and Eb’s photo to the wrought-iron fence, and vowed to carry his torch until our fellow and sister Americans remember the internment of German Americans and German Latin Americans.
About Us:
Our former Child Internees, now our leaders (dubbed by St. Mary’s students as our “Fab-5”):
-
Art Jacobs: retired career Air Force veteran, born in Brooklyn, NY, interned age 12 in Ellis Island and in Crystal City; imprisoned in Germany on his 13th birthday; tireless champion of official recognition of German American internment
-
Werner Ulrich: interned age 3, sister born in Crystal City camp (over a year after the war ended!), lead researcher, statistician, and mapmaker. [SEE his work posted here under the tab labeled “Internment Camps”]
-
JoAnna Wartemann Terwege Howell: born in internment in Texas, expatriated and bombarded with her four American siblings, lead expert witness
-
Eric Gehrmann: interned age 5, rounded up from Costa Rica, expatriated and bombarded, now lives in San Antonio, constituent of Rep. Joaquin Castro
-
The late Eberhard Fuhr: interned at age 17, arrested during his high school class, interned at 4800 Ellis Ave (Chicago, IL); Crystal City, TX; Ellis Island, NY.
Current Graduate Student Leaders, St. Mary’s University:
Santos Mencio
Erica Esparza
Original Student Founder of our “Year of Remembrance” project, St. Mary’s University:
Nicole B. Johnson
Student Leaders, 2018-present, St. Mary’s University:
Bianca Jacquez
Claudia Sanchez
John Cadena, MA
Oscar Ortega
Payge Boyd
Priscila Reyes
Charlie Lopez
St. Mary’s University Student Researchers and Contributors:
Total: now numbering nearly 1000 over the last 9 semesters
Over these past four years, St. Mary’s students have contributed archival research, museum publications, research posters, interactive maps, digital exhibits, physical exhibits, videos, podcasts, whiteboard animations, conference papers, press interviews, ofrenda tributes, op-ed pieces, “Spoon River” anthology-style monologues, 75h reunion events (Crystal City camp, Chicago, and New York) , tours of Crystal City Camp, “satellite rallies” of supporter from Texas to Berlin, film screenings, research assistance for members of the public who seek information about their families during internment, and internships (museums, archives, and historical institutions).
Our students commit to preserve this history and seek peace for all American and Latin American Children of Internment.
Faculty Sponsor:
Dr. Teresa Miriam Van Hoy
To contact us:
Email: rememberingourchildren365@gmail.com
Phone: 210 602-5997
High School Student, Payge Boyd, volunteered to help us research at the National Archives in Washington DC in the summer of 2018. She found the Gripsholm ship manifest that listed the 1117 civilian German Americans and Latin Americans who were expatriated to active war zone in Germany. This list included many of Our Children. Many cried when they saw their own names and loved ones on the Gripsholm list.