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Japanese internment camps

Definition

These were detention centers where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans, most of whom lived on the Pacific coast, were forcibly relocated and incarcerated during World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Analogy

Imagine being forced to leave your home and live in a temporary housing facility like a summer camp because your neighbors are scared you might be secretly working for their enemy. That's what happened to many Japanese-Americans during WWII with these internment camps.

Related terms

Executive Order 9066: This was an order signed by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1942 authorizing the evacuation of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to relocation centers further inland.

Issei and Nisei: Issei refers to first-generation immigrants who came from Japan. Nisei are second-generation, American-born people with Japanese parents. Both groups were subject to internment during WWII.

War Relocation Authority (WRA): The U.S. government agency established to handle the internment, i.e., forced relocation and detention, of Japanese Americans during World War II.