Manzanar

usa

1 panorama by landis bennett

Japanese-American Internment Camp

Manzanar War Relocation Center was one of ten camps where Japanese-Americans were interned during World War II. It is located in California on the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. In February 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 establishing “Military Areas” and authorizing the Secretary of War to “remove from those areas anyone who might threaten the war effort.” Everyone of Japanese ancestry who lived on the West Coast were given a maximum of only a few days to liquidate their businesses, properties, and most of their possessions. They did not know where they would be going or how long they would be detained. By November 1942 the relocation was complete and over 120,000 Americans and Japanese resident aliens were held at Manzanar and 9 other similar locations in Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona.

Manzanar Cemetery

[FULLSCREEN QTVR]

Fifteen of the 150 people who died at the relocation center were buried here; most of the others were cremated. Six burials remain today. Relatives removed the other nine after the war.

Today Manzanar is a National Historic Site operated by the National Park Service. The Historic Site was established to “preserve the stories of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II and to serve as a reminder to this and future generations of the fragility of American civil liberties.”

© 2005 by Landis Bennett

related websites

Manzanar Information
Manzanar National Historic Site