Text 13713, 134 rader
Skriven 2008-03-29 12:53:40 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
  Kommentar till text 13683 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: Interned Germans, Italians and Japanese
===============================================
29 Mar 08 09:36, Ward Dossche wrote to Roy Witt:


 RW>> "Dec. 7, 1941 Japan bombs Pearl Harbor.  Pursuant to the Alien Enemy
 RW>> Act of 1798, Roosevelt issued identical Presidential Proclamations
 RW>> 2525, 2526 and 2527 branding German, Italian and Japanese nationals
 RW>> as enemy aliens, authorizing internment and travel and property
 RW>> ownership restrictions.  A blanket presidential warrant authorized
 RW>> U.S. Attorney General Francis Biddle to have the FBI arrest a large
 RW>> number of "dangerous enemy aliens" based on the CDI. Hundreds of
 RW>> German aliens were arrested by the end of the day.  The FBI raids
 RW>> many homes and hundreds more are detained before war even declared
 RW>> on Germany."

 WD> That is remarkable.

 WD> According to what I read the first wave attacked at 07.48am, that
 WD> means 12.48pm in Washington DC. Right? Or did I miss one?

I think you did. It was nearly 2pm in Washington.

http://my.execpc.com/~dschaaf/timeline.html

"0755 Island wide attack begins...Japanese dive bombers to strike
airfields Kaneohe, Ford Island, Hickam, Bellows, Wheeler, Ewa...Aerial
torpedo planes begin their run on ships in Pearl Harbor."

"1458 Tadao Fuchikami delivers message from Washington...message decoded
and given to General Short regarding ultimatum from Japan to be given at
1300 Washington time..."Just what significance the hour set may have we do
not know, but be on the alert accordingly"..."

Congress declared war on Japan on December 8th, proclaiming the previous
day a day that will live in infamy.

Congress declared war on Germany on December 11th...

http://www.law.ou.edu/ushistory/germwar.shtml

 WD> There was no CNN ... no Fox ... ;-) ...

Nope. But back then the alphabet broadcasting companies could be trusted
to report factual truth, unlike they do today.

 WD> With the speed and quality of communications of that era there must
 WD> have been clear cut plans ready to execute because I cannot think
 WD> that a chain of command still 'asleep' at 12.48pm would be organised
 WD> well enough by day's end to do anything at all.

The President was awaiting the Japanese Ambassador's visit at 1300
Washington time, that day. The Japanese had a hard time deciphoring their
message from Tokyo and so were late. Meanwhile, the news had been reported
to the President, who confronted the Ambassador when he finally arrived.

 WD> So there must have been a pre-conceived plan that could be set in
 WD> motion.

Yeup...preconceived from the 1798 document mentioned above.

 WD> Rounding up of Germans and Italians had already started long before
 WD> that, half a year or more before Pearl Harbor even.

I don't think so. AFAIK, they may have been under observation, but no
Germans or Italians were rounded up earlier than Dec 11th.

 WD> In Montana, near the town of Missoula, there is a place called "Fort
 WD> Missoula". An old location from the Indian wars but which during WW2
 WD> was used as a detention center. It had mainly Italian but also German
 WD> and Japanese detainees.

There were detention centers in Canada too...and one big one in Texas.

 WD> The Italians and Germans were mostly crews from civilian vessels in
 WD> US ports, at sea within reach of the Coast Guard or in the Panama
 WD> Canal. The Japanese were Japanese Americans but were not held there
 WD> longer than a year.

 WD> Especially the Italians were resourceful as there was a complete crew
 WD> of a detained luxury liner Conte Biancamano... kitchen staff, doctor,
 WD> dentist, entertainment staff (singers, actors), a full orchestra ...
 WD> and they organised themselves to make the very best of it.

They were detained in Souther California too...one 'historical site'
marker remembers those Italians who lived and worked near Campo, CA...

 WD> There hardly was any unrest. They worked and made the camp a home.
 WD> There were no escape attempts, nowere to go to of course and
 WD> eventually they mingled with local life. They started to work for the
 WD> forrest service and local businesses, a lot of work as well in
 WD> aggriculture and they were paid decent wages.

 WD> They were allowed to leave camp with a pass to work, to visit people,
 WD> to go to the cinema. They themselves put up musical performances and
 WD> classical concerts which were attended by the people from Missoula.
 WD> On July 4th they eventually even participated in the parade.

 WD> Missoulians came to see their doctors, their dentist. They performed
 WD> surgeries, delivered babies, ...

 WD> The money they could use to buy stuff for themselves and most was put
 WD> on savings acoounts so that after the war they could fund their
 WD> travel to Italy. Those that went back had earned so much money, they
 WD> actually returned rich ... judging by the standards of those days.

 WD> Many of the sailors had adapted to the life style during their
 WD> internment and settled down in Montana. Interactions with the local
 WD> girls was a factor as well. Alberto Benedetti wrote an interesting
 WD> book about it which, of course, I have in my library.

 WD> They called the Flathead valley and adjoining Missoula with its
 WD> surrounding mountains "Bella Vista" ... the beautiful view.

 WD> Several of the detainees who returned to Italy were shocked by the
 WD> difference in quality of life between US/Montana/Missoula and
 WD> war-ravaged Italy. They returned and settled in Montana and Idaho.

 WD> Short interesting reading via this link:

 WD>    http://www.missoulian.com/specials/salute/Salute3-fort.html

 WD> The "Missoulian" is the local newspaper.

 WD> If there is a demand, I can publish my photos of last year's visit to
 WD> Fort Missoula. Not much remains though.

I ran across a mention of a German detention center in Texas, but I didn't
go look at that site and now I've forgotten the name...

                R\%/itt



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