The Department of State transmits for the information of the Swiss
Legation in charge of Japanese interests in the continental United
States a statement, with enclosures, prepared by the War Relocation
Authority of the United States Department of the Interior,
concerning the present situation of Japanese nationals residing in
War Relocation Centers. Reference is made in connection with the
enclosed statement to a recent telephone conversation between Mr.
Weingartner of the Legation of Switzerland and Mr. Marcy of the
Department of State during the course of which Mr. Weingartner
requested information regarding War Relocation Centers in the United
States.
If the Legation of Switzerland desires further information regarding
War Relocation Centers the Department of State will be pleased to
endeavor to obtain such information.
It is suggested that for the present the Legation of Switzerland send
communications destined for the War Relocation Authority or Japanese
evacuees in War Relocation Centers through the special War Problems
Division of the Department of State which will promptly forward
them.
The information contained in the attached statement with its
enclosures is for the information of the Swiss Legation and it is
requested that it not be communicated to the Japanese
Government.
[Enclosure]
Statement Prepared by the War Relocation
Authority
[Washington,] August 6,
1945.
The following observations are submitted for the information of
the Swiss Legation which may find them of interest:
[Page 437]
In the first place, following the evacuation it was necessary for
the War Relocation Authority to give major attention to
providing food, clothing, housing, medical care, and other
necessities to the persons whose evacuation from the West Coast
was ordered by the military authorities. To this end relocation
centers were established as places of temporary residence
pending relocation. Almost immediately, however, provision was
made for the relocation of some of the evacuees. In 1943 nearly
17,000 left centers on indefinite leave, and a considerable
number left centers for temporary periods to engage in various
types of work or to take care of miscellaneous personal business
outside of centers. In 1944 an additional 18,500 left the
centers on a permanent basis and several thousand left the
centers temporarily to work or to take care of personal
business.
In 1943 it became evident that there was a sharp cleavage between
certain groups of evacuees. A majority adhered to the American
way of life. Their sons enlisted in, or were drafted into, the
American Army, and in various ways they lent their support to
the American war effort and programs. Another group, on the
other hand, by refusal to accept induction into the armed
services through Selective Service procedure (applicable only to
citizens), by requesting exchange to Japan, and by various other
means, indicated their adherence to Japanese ideology and
nationalistic aims. In the interest of maintenance of order in
the Centers, and for the good of the great mass of evacuees, it
became necessary, therefore, to designate one of the centers as
a segregation center to which a majority of the pro-Japanese
group were transferred. This was the period of
“Segregation.”
The program of the Authority, up to this time, including
Segregation, is summarized in Senate Document No. 9623 entitled
“Segregation of Loyal and Disloyal Japanese in Relocation
Centers,” two copies of which are enclosed herewith, as
Enclosure 1.
In December of 1944 an entirely new development occurred,
consistent with the progress of the war, namely, the rescinding
of the exclusion orders by the Commanding General of the Western
Defense Command of the U.S. Army. This development permitted a
renewed emphasis upon relocation and required the reshaping of a
number of our policies in order that the evacuees might take
their places as promptly as possible in the main currents of
American life.
The principal policy change involved was a decision to close all
relocation centers, other than Tule Lake, within six months to
one year after revocation of the mass exclusion orders. With the
great majority of the evacuees free to return to their former
homes or resettle anywhere else in the United States, the
Authority felt that it
[Page 438]
was neither necessary nor desirable to operate the centers
beyond a period which would make reasonable allowance for
resettlement of the remaining population. Three years of
experience in managing the centers had indicated clearly that
they could not and should not be more than temporary shelters.
Isolated as they have unavoidably been from the main currents of
American life, the centers have always been abnormal
communities, destructive of initiative, self-respect, and
personal dignity. Their effect on the people living in them, and
particularly on the young people of school age, has been to
retard rather than accelerate both their personal development
and their adjustment to American social and economic life.
Moreover, the acute manpower shortage and the plentiful
employment opportunities for evacuees throughout the nation made
it doubly desirable to complete the relocation job and liquidate
the centers at the earliest practicable date. Accordingly, the
Authority enlarged its relocation staff and now maintains 57
offices serving the principal cities, States, and production
areas in the United States. The field offices expedite
relocation, assist in locating housing, and provide for the
various types of assistance evacuees need in regaining their
position as self-reliant, self-supporting members of American
society.
These changes and announcements are documented and explained by
enclosures numbered 2, 3, 4, and 5.24
At the present time certain persons are precluded from returning
to their homes or from relocating in the United States
generally. The War Department, through the Western Defense
Command, has excluded certain individuals from the West Coast
Areas and has required that certain others be detained. Most of
those ordered detained are already at Tule Lake and the
remainder are to be transferred there in the very near future.
The result will be that as soon as this transfer has been
accomplished, every person at any of the other centers will be
free to leave and will not in any sense be detained.
Consequently, visits by the representatives of the Protecting
Power to Centers other than Tule Lake should no longer be
necessary.
As indicated above, we are convinced that the welfare of the
evacuees requires their absorption into American life as soon as
possible. Quite recently we have worked out a definite schedule
for closing the centers on a gradual basis between October 15
and December 15 of the current year. Our reasons for taking this
action have already been indicated briefly and are set forth in
some detail in enclosures 6 (see pages 12 and 13 especially) and
7. Our field staff is prepared to meet the many and varied
problems involved in assisting individual families to accomplish
their individual relocation.
[Page 439]
The original evacuation affected approximately 110,000 persons of
Japanese ancestry, two-thirds American citizens, and one-third
alien. As of March 31, 1945, there were approximately 74,800
residents of centers, of whom 58 per cent were citizens and 42
per cent were aliens. Enclosure 8 presents these data by
Centers. Enclosure 9 is the most recent report, “Net Absences on
Leave by Center,” and presents the current picture on
relocation, which in recent weeks has averaged in the
neighborhood of 1,000 per week.
