In World War II, more than 20 million people were imprisoned in over 47,000 camps around the world. Germany imprisoned millions of people they deemed “unworthy” in thousands of Holocaust work camps. Soon later, the U.S. relocated thousands of Japanese to Internment camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese Internment Camps and Holocaust Work Camps are both similar and different in: living conditions, reason for containment, and the severity of the camps. In many ways, the living conditions of both types of camps are similar and different. The cramped conditions were common in both camps, “any combination of eight individuals was allotted a 20-by-25-foot room” (“Japanese Americans at Manazar" 1). The Germans cramped great numbers of people into a single camp, “The biggest site identified is the infamous Warsaw Ghetto, which held about 500,000 people at its height” …show more content…
A great similarity between the two governments is that they wanted to control the power of that certain group. The U.S. was afraid of an internal attack by the Japanese-Americans, their solution was to move them inland into camps. The Germans also had reasoning for their actions. “German authorities under National Socialism established a variety of detention facilities to confine those whom they defined as political, ideological, or racial opponents of the regime” (“Concentration Camp Systems: In Depth” 1). The two governments both may have had similar reasons, but their intended use of the camps were different. The U.S. intended the camps to be used “To provide communities where evacuees might live and contribute, through their work, to their own support pending their gradual reabsorption into private employment and normal American life” (“Relocation of Japanese Americans” 3). In contrast the Germans had no intentions to help the confined prisoners in any way, rather they used them to help their war
During World War II American soldiers who were caught by the Japanese were sent to camps where they were kept under harsh conditions. These men were called the prisoners of war, also known as the POWs. The Japanese who were captured by the American lived a simple life. They were the Japanese internees of World War II. The POWs had more of a harsh time during World War II than the internees. While the internees did physically stay in the camps longer, the POWs had it worse mentally.
Each section had its own function and its type of prisoners. The “Detention camp housed Jewish prisoners brought in to construct the camp.” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, p.165) “Special Camp housed Jews from Poland who held papers, passports, entrance visa, etc. issued by foreign countries” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, p.165) The “Neutral Camp was reserved for several hundred Jew who were citizens of neutral countries.” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, p.165) The "Star Camp was reserved for about 4,000 Jewish prisoners who were to be exchanged for German nationals interned by the Allies” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, p.165)
middle of paper ... ... Daniels, Roger. A. Concentration Camps USA: Japanese Americans and World War II. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970.
Each camp was responsible for a different part, but all were after the same thing: elimination of the Jewish race. In these camps they had cruel punishments, harsh housing, and they had Nazi guards watching them and killing them on a daily basis. While being forced to live in Auschwitz, they endured many cruel and harsh punishments. The main form of punishment is the gas chambers. These chambers were cells that were made underground and were able to be sealed.
The camps were located away from Japan and isolated, so if a spy tried to communicate, word wouldn't get out. The camps were unfair to the Japanese, but the US was trying to be cautious. Even more than 66% or 2/3 of the Japanese-Americans sent to the internment camps in April of 1942 were born in the United States and many had never been to Japan. Their only crime was that they had Japanese ancestors and they were suspected of being spies to their homeland of Japan. Japanese-American World War I veterans that served for the United States were also sent to the internment camps.
Over 12 million people alone were killed in the holocaust alone. Internment camps and concentration camps were designed to oppress one group of people by the government. Both of these tragic events happened during ww2. our goal was to suppress one race theirs was to destroy theirs. The concentration and internment camps were essentially the same thing because, they put a economic burden on them, then they were forced to do unreasonable task, and finally they were both suppressed by the government.
How would you feel if you were forced out of your home to go to a camp where you shall be incarcerated for an unknown amount of time in an unknown location. You have no idea what will happen to you and your family. Why were you forced into the camps? Because of your ethnicity or beliefs. Japanese internment camps and Holocaust concentration camps both left their hateful marks in the fabric of history. During World War II, the Holocaust concentration camps were located around Central or Eastern Europe while the Japanese internment camps were located in the Western United States. Both types of camps have interesting similarities. However, one must realize that despite this similarities, these camps were very different in many ways. Yet, one thing is certain. We must learn more about this dark time in history in order to prevent such acts of hatred and paranoia from ever happening again.
It was easy for the government to take advantage of the Japanese-Americans because they were already the target of aggression. Since the Japanese population was already in such a low position in society, taking advantage of their circumstances was easy for the government. The Japanese found themselves having to defend their presence in a country that was supposed to be accepting; this also happened to the Chinese before the Japanese. (Terry, 2012) The opinions of governors across nine western states pushed Japanese Americans into internment camps.
“A typical concentration camp consisted of barracks that were secured from escape by barbed wire, watchtowers and guards. The inmates usually lived in overcrowded barracks and slept in bunk “beds”. In the forced labour camps, for
The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Many Americans were afraid of another attack, so the state representatives pressured President Roosevelt to do something about the Japanese who were living in the United States at the time. President Roosevelt authorized the internment with Executive Order 9066 which allowed local military commanders to designate military areas as exclusion zones, from which any or all persons may be excluded. Twelve days later, this was used to declare that all people of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the entire Pacific coast. This included all of California and most of Oregon and Washington.
The internment camps were permanent detention camps that held internees from March, 1942 until their closing in 1945 and 1946. Although the camps held captive people of many different origins, the majority of the prisoners were Japanese-Americans. There were ten different relocation centers located across the United States during the war. These Japanese Americans, half of whom were children, were incarcerated for up to 4 years, without due process of law or any factual basis, in bleak, remote camps surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards.
It is not a well known fact that around the time the Holocaust took place in Europe, another internment (less extreme) was taking place in the United States. “Betrayed by America” by Kristin Lewis gives readers an insight on what happened to Japanese-Americans in America. The article tells us about Hiroshi Shishima, Japanese-Americans internment, and what was going on during the regime. During WW2, America went into a frenzy after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Many Americans believed what was being said about Japanese-Americans even though it was proven to be false. Since the whole fiasco with Japan took place, many Japanese-Americans were forced into internment in certain parts of the United States. The reason for the internment of Japanese-Americans was due to fear & hysteria, racial
... group of citizens was treated during this time. Unfortunately, this is most likely due to the fact that it exposes the worst of the United States government. This treatment is treated as a blemish in the history of the United States to the United States citizens who learn about it. This is not the case at all for the Japanese-American people who experienced this, as well as the relatives of these people. The management of these people was a cruel and unjust act that was never shown for the harshness that it truly is. In Germany, it was called concentration camps, and it is known around the world as the worst time in history. In the United States, people brush the subject away, not showing any concern. In any other country, the United States would have been horrified, but it happened in our country. Thus, since the country is always right, this cruelty is ignored.
In the concentration camps, the prisoners had to go through a massacre, which is a mass killing of people. The prisoners of Auschwitz were starved to death and
...throughout Europe as they did in Auschwitz and Majdanek. These horror stories are only a few out of the hundreds of camps that the Nazis built during World War Two. The Holocaust was a devastating event for the Jewish population as well as many other minorities in Europe. The Holocaust was the largest genocide that has ever occurred. Horrific things went on in Auschwitz and Majdenek that wiped out approximately 1,378,000 people combined. This death toll is extremely high compared to smaller camps. These camps were some of the largest concentration/death camps that existed during the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a tragic time where millions of people considered undesirable to the Nazis were detained, forced to work in the harshest of conditions, starved to death, or brutally murdered.“The Holocaust was the most evil crime ever committed.” –Stephen Ambrose