Prisoners of War and Internment Camps in New Mexico
Prisoner of War and Internment Camps in New Mexico
HIST 203: New Mexico History
After America’s entry into World War II, which lasted from 1941 to 1945 in the United States, prisoner of war camps and internment camps in New Mexico were among the largest. Most of the prisoners were Germans captured during the North Africa Campaign. Others were of Italian and Japanese origin. There were three base camps, located in Roswell, Lordsburg and Santa Fe, 19 branch camps and two internment locations. The causes for this unprecedented action in America History, according to the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, “were motivated largely by racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.”1 In the detention centers, families lived in substandard housing, had inadequate nutrition and healthcare, and had their livelihoods destroyed. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, Americans blamed the failure of espionage committed by Japanese-Americans instead of the lack of preparedness by the United States Military. The federal government operated on the assumption that Japanese-Americans would form a fifth column and aid in the expected Japanese invasion. Thus the government believed that people of Japanese ancestry needed to be removed from the west coast. Once President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, the evacuation of Japanese-Americans began in California. New Mexico became the prime location for housing male individuals considered “high-risk” by the government.
Until the camps were completed, many of the evacuees were held in temporary centers, such as stables at local racetracks. Almost two-thirds of the interns were Japanese Americans born in the United States. Many of these individuals had never even been to Japan. Even Japanese-American veterans of World War I were forced to leave
HIST 203: New Mexico History
After America’s entry into World War II, which lasted from 1941 to 1945 in the United States, prisoner of war camps and internment camps in New Mexico were among the largest. Most of the prisoners were Germans captured during the North Africa Campaign. Others were of Italian and Japanese origin. There were three base camps, located in Roswell, Lordsburg and Santa Fe, 19 branch camps and two internment locations. The causes for this unprecedented action in America History, according to the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, “were motivated largely by racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.”1 In the detention centers, families lived in substandard housing, had inadequate nutrition and healthcare, and had their livelihoods destroyed. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, Americans blamed the failure of espionage committed by Japanese-Americans instead of the lack of preparedness by the United States Military. The federal government operated on the assumption that Japanese-Americans would form a fifth column and aid in the expected Japanese invasion. Thus the government believed that people of Japanese ancestry needed to be removed from the west coast. Once President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, the evacuation of Japanese-Americans began in California. New Mexico became the prime location for housing male individuals considered “high-risk” by the government.
Until the camps were completed, many of the evacuees were held in temporary centers, such as stables at local racetracks. Almost two-thirds of the interns were Japanese Americans born in the United States. Many of these individuals had never even been to Japan. Even Japanese-American veterans of World War I were forced to leave
Bibliography: Szasz, Ferenc M. and Patrick Nagatani. “Constricted Landscapes: The Japanese- American Concentration Camps, A Photographic Essay” New Mexico Historical Review 2 (April 1996): 157-187. Pressler, Millie. "Lordsburg Internment POW Camp." New Mexico Office of the State Historian | Places. New Mexico History.org, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. Archival Documents: New Mexico State Records Center and Archives, Santa Fe, New Mexico Melzer, Richard. “Casualties of Caution and Fear: Life in Santa Fe’s Japanese Internment Camp, 1942-46” in Essays in Twenty-Century New Mexico, edited by Judith Boyce DeMark, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1994. "Japanese-American Relocation." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.