Is anyone out there aware of the fact that German and Italian Americans were also put into detainment camps?

Question

during World War II? Also, that some of the worst actions were taken against the Germans some of whom were sent back to Germany along with their American families during the war? Also some Germans were not let out of the camps until 2 years after the war ended? Why isn't this fact in the history books?

Yes, it's true that 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals were interned but so were thousands of people of German and Italian descent. Why is this never mentioned? There has been no outrage over these senseless incarcerations and certainly no reparations. On top of our population that was interned 4,050 Germans were shipped from South America at our insistance and 2,000 were sent back to Germany where they were often arrested as spies. These facts are absolutely forgotten and ignored and I think it's wrong!

The question isn't the numbers! The question is that this wasn't just a racial issue. You don't have to look different to be hated for no reason.

Answer 1

so whats wrong with that

Answer 2

I'd think it depends on the history book(s). I certainly know that it was in my text books at school that the Canadian government interned Germans & Italians as well as Japanese Canadians.

Not sure if it's the same there but I suspect it was, the reason you hear less about Italians and Germans being put in camps was because it happened on a much smaller scale. Especially given the number of German & Italian Canadians relative to the number of Japanese.

You've got to look at many different sources if you want to try to get a balanced look at history, even then it can be difficult.

Answer 3

Because for America there were two wars going on.

One against Hitler in Germany, the other against the Japanese.
Look at any political cartoons or articles from the era. The Germans were an ok people just being controlled by evil. The Japanese have no major ruler mentioned in most American works, or even a party (ie. the Nazi's) that is listed as evil; it is just the people themselves.
The worst thing you can do in America is look different. It led to slavery (white indentured servants went free, but the black ones in the same town became the first American slaves). It also led to the all out racial war against the people of Japan, not just their government.

Answer 4

Yes, some German and Italian people were interned during WWII, but not nearly as many as the Japanese (issei and nisei) by percentage. It should also be noted that many of Japanes descent who lived East of the Rocky Mountains were not interned. Also note that some Anglo-Americans went to the "Relocation Centers" to be with their families into which they had married. Others went because they had children with Japanese Americans and the children had to go.

Our neighbors across the street simply disappeared one day, it was several years later when I found out the truth, and I was really angry.

Answer 5

Yes, in fact this was a common practice during war in that time and is the original meaning of concentration camp. I think the British first used this around 1900 in colonial uprisings. It is simply easier to collectively control a group of people than to persecute them one by one.
Its meaning as desctruction camps only came with Adolf Hitler.
The bad thing about this is that every member of a group is held potentially guilty and therefore locked away. It is incomprehensive why the "prisoners" were held in such camps until after the war. As it is a security measure to avoid them helping the warring factions (spying etc.), there is no grounds to hold them until late after the war.

Answer 6

There were certainly actions taken to "crush the spirit" of all the Axis-power nations even further after they had surrendered - the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, was one of them. This was arguably largely carried out merely to destroy the city's beautiful historical architecture.

It is a shame that America's own human-rights abuses are either downplayed or ignored entirely in the history books of our own future citizens. Apparently we expect the rest of the world to regard us as the mother who "always knows best" and "only does what's best for everyone in the long run" even when we obviously don't.

Answer 7

Well, to be quite frank, in terms of sheer numbers there is no compairing them with the Japanese-Americans put into interment camps.

Answer 8

Sometimes the history is written by the powerful, who benefits by hidden the facts.
The Gypsy also were in those camps, but nobody cares. They don't belong to any nation, nobody stand for them.

Answer 9

There are alot of things that happened that we will never know...the history we learn in school is what the powers of the world want us to know.

Answer 10

Yes, I knew that. I learned it in high school then again in college when I took Italian. So sad.

Answer 11

for the same reason there is little mention of the Japanese - Americans who were placed in detainment camps while their relatives were fighting for the United States.