FAQ:
1. What is “National Day of Remembrance?”
On February 19 we remember the Americans and Latin Americans interned in the US during WWII. Thousands of them were children, including many born in internment.
On Feb. 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 enabling their round-up.
In March 2004, Congress passed “National Day of Remembrance” in a resolution that recognized ALL THREE nationalities interned as “Enemy Aliens” during WWII. Another resolution was passed in 2007, also including German Americans.
Tragically, only Japanese American internees get remembered.
Even the National Museum of American History remembers only the Japanese this year, 2022
What is St. Mary’s University doing to Remember this Feb. 19, 2022?
St. Mary’s students are hosting a “National Day of Remembrance” commemoration this Saturday, February 19, 11:15-noon CST.
Our Public History project, “Remembering Our Children” is hosting 50 students who will each take 19 seconds to honor a German American child interned. We will then post their photos and scatter rose petals in Remembrance.
2. Where can I learn more about WWII Internment of German Americans and German Latin Americans?
Comprehensive and reliable personal stories and historical research are housed in two main digital sites:
http://www.foitimes.com/index.html
Both sites are founded and maintained by former child internees themselves or the children of former internees.
3. How many German Americans and German Latin Americans were targeted by internment policies during WWII?
300,000 German Americans were forced to register and comply with restrictions
11,000 German Americans interned as Enemy Aliens
4,000 German Latin Americans were interned (including German and Austrian Jews)
4. Why does official recognition from the US government and remembrance from the American people matter?
–For the former child internees:
Above all, peace springs from truth. Without truth, there is no peace. Our child internees are the last survivors of German American and German Latin American internment. They seek truth and peace.
Their families lived in fear and shame even after the war ended. Their files in the US still read “Enemy Alien.”
–For the US:
It’s been called the American Inquisition.
Folks think of the Salem Witch Trials or the Red Scare when they think of hearings to prove honor and loyalty. WWII internment was worse and more expensive. Moreover, it imprisoned American children and sent them to suffer bombardment, hunger, and cold.
The AEA (Alien Enemies Act) invoked by President Roosevelt to relocate and intern Americans based on their ethnicity remains legal. It was recently invoked by President Trump.
5. Why did Americans not protest these civil liberties violations targeting American children?
One main reason is that the targeting of German Americans was kept secret or distorted.The return voyage bringing Americans home made big headlines in New York press, but the outbound voyage expatriating American children went unnoticed.
We did find a small clip from a paper in the “German belt” of the midwest, but note that their source was Portuguese authorities not US authorities, and they were quick to reassure Americans that it was mostly Latin American Germans who had been targeted. No mention that most of the victims were children.
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Gripsholm 1944 Repatriation Voyage Statistics:
25% of the 1117 civilians on the outbound Gripsholm voyage departing Feb. 15, 1944 were Americans. The majority of those were American children.
75% of the 1117 civilians on the outbound ship were Latin Americans, most of whom were children.
Gripsholm passenger manifest of the Feb. 15, 1944 voyage
St. Mary’s Analysis of Gripsholm List—
Latin American passengers= 865 total (nearly 75%)
The list below tallies total passengers for each country and total families.
Guatemala= 185 (11 families=incl. children Not couples, siblings, etc.)
Peru= 132 (2 families; *the rest are individuals or groups with no children listed)
Costa Rica= 192 (46 families)
Bolivia= 5
Haiti= 16 (2 families)
Dominican Republic= 11
Puerto Rico= 1
Nicaragua= 65 (12 families)
El Salvador= 39 (6 families)
Honduras= 41 (4 families)
Panama= 32 (3 families)
Colombia= 66 (13 families)
Ecuador= 10 (1 family)
Mexico= 3 (wife and children, Sarnan?, but scratched out)
6. Relocation vs. Internment? What is the difference?