This browser does not support the Video element.
Bay Area internment survivors speak out on Day of Remembrance
This week marks 84 years since more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans—many from the Bay Area—were sent to internment camps during World War II.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - This week marks 84 years since more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans—many from the Bay Area—were sent to internment camps during World War II.
"This year's theme is ‘neighbors, not enemies’," said Jeffery Matsuoka, chair of the Bay Area Day of Remembrance.
In San Francisco's Japantown Sunday, survivors of the Japanese-American internment and their families lit candles to remember an injustice eight decades ago—one that many remember like it was yesterday.
Survivors share their stories
"At seven years old, it's something I'll never forget," said Flora Ninomiya, an internment camp survivor from Richmond.
In February 1942, Pres. Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order, forcing 120,000 Japanese-Americans to be incarcerated in camps—two-thirds of them American citizens.
"My father was arrested by the FBI, and my mother was left with five children, Ninomiya.
Flora Ninomiya was born in Richmond. Her family was sent to a camp in Colorado after temporarily being forced to live on the fairgrounds in Merced.
"And so we lived in the horse stables," said Ninomiya. "There's no running water. We're living in the stench of animals. It was horrifying."
Satsuki Ina was born in a Northern California internment camp in 1944.
"When we were incarcerated, there were no protests. Nobody showed up for us," said Ina.
She later wrote a book about the trauma her family endured.
"It was really eye-opening for me because I didn't know that they were forced to renounce their American citizenship, and I didn't know that we were on the verge of being deported, although we were all American citizens," said Ina.
Panel discussion on internment and current immigration actions
Ina and others discussed the parallels many internment survivors see between what happened to them and immigration actions over the past year—both of which were authorized under the Alien Enemies Act.
"It's happening again today," said Ninomiya.
"Our current government is separating children from their families, exactly what happened to us," said Ina.
"Once again we're seeing a lot of anti-immigrant vitriol against certain communities," said Matsuoka.
In 1988, the U.S. government formally apologized to those who were locked up in camps, but now many survivors say that's not enough.
"I think part of our healing and repair is to tell our stories, to educate people and to demand that our current government stop repeating history," said Ina.
What's next:
In light of the internment in the 1940s, as well as the current immigration actions today, there is now a push to get rid of the Alien Enemies Act, and there is legislation currently in Congress to repeal it.
The Source: Interviews by KTVU reporter John Krinjak