September 11th, 2023 to September 17th, 2023
Our focus this week was upon the Japanese (-American) internment that took place during World War II from 1942 to 1945, or as late as 1946, as the war in the Pacific Theatre officially ended September 2nd, 1945. We examined letters from young adults, teenagers, and children from the Letters to Clara Breed collection. The letter I chose was from Louise Ogawa, who is described as,
…Seventeen and a high school junior when the war began and was one of the most prolific writers. She wrote many moving and amusing letters. Even when she was homesick and blue, Louise managed to put a bright spin on what was really happening.
Introduction: How I Met the Remarkable Miss Breed, Dear Miss Breed, Joanne Oppenheim
This personality of hers definitely read through in the singular letter of hers I read, from July 14th, 1944, about a year before the camps closed. One particular instance from this letter was her reminiscing about her summers spent back home in San Diego, thinking of the zoo, the beach, and the park. She never says how she hates her lack of freedom, or complain about the situation. Louise seemed in her letter to always remain positive, just as Joanne Oppenheim said in her small biography or description of Louise. The positivity was also a common theme with other people who wrote letters to Miss Breed, maybe due to innocence, to putting up a brave face for Miss Breed, or they actually were feeling this positivity, in spite of knowing the gravity of the situation they were in.
Another interesting part about Louise is how she still stays positive, even when discussing the worst parts about internment. Particularly in this letter, she talks about the draft the male Japanese-Americans of age must be put through: either they accept their draft into the U.S. military or they refuse and are sent to jail, putting a larger legacy of imprisonment behind their name. She says,
Speaking of the draft problem–quite a number of boys are being called for the army and together with the relocation this camp is slowly becoming empty. There are quite a number of boys refusing to appear for induction. I just can’t imagine young boys just out of school being picked up by the F.B.I. and taken to jail. It just doesn’t seem right. For the boys, I know, it is a very delicate problem but I would much rather see them go into the army instead of to jail. I think it is a pity to see such fine young sturdy boys fresh out of high school not yet knowing what life really is being put behind bars separated from the rest of the world. Maybe I am too Americanized to see their view point but on the other hand I know I should respect them for their decision and determination to carry out what they believe should be.
Letter to Clara Breed from Louise Ogawa, Poston, Arizona, July 14, 1944
Her insight on the draft definitely does make one wonder the sides of ideology from Japanese-Americans at the time, especially in the young men when being asked to be drafted into the military. There was the side that accepted the draft; this was likely in an act to prove their patriotism towards America, to show that they aren’t spies or traitors. That they’re full blooded Americans from birth. Then, there comes the other side of the argument, the side that rejected the draft. One can only speculate as to why, but I believe it is widely accepted that many of these men felt betrayed by their country. They had lived in America their whole lives, or at least the two-thirds who were citizens, and after a single attack from a country they’ve never known, all citizens with that ancestral DNA in them are seen as suspicious and the enemy. Louise may not realize this, or allude to the fact that she realizes it, as she does say that, in effect, rebelling against the draft will separate them further from what they know. She’s also very intelligent in the way that she says that these young men, likely some of them her classmates, fresh out of high school, likely don’t know what they want, and by choosing either side when they don’t exactly have the time or capacity to process this, it will drastically change the course of their lives. Reading her writing on this matter made Louise seem so modern to me, like she could be in one of my classes or I could’ve worked with her, despite the fact that she was a teenager 80 years ago at this point. She wrote this around when she was 18 or 19, and I can only imagine how she progressed further as she fully grew into herself. If you would like to read this letter in detail, use this link. If you would like to read more letters from Louise or from the other children, young adults, and teens, use this link.
Next week, we are getting into Last Letters of the Holocaust. We have each selected two letters, one from the range of 1941-1942, and the other from 1943-1944. I’m interested to see if there’s a difference in the writing of the letters from the first half to the second half. From the beginning, did they understand what would happen to them? Does that change as the war progresses? I know these letters will be difficult to read, as we are aware that most, if not all, of these authors were killed in the Nazi concentration camps. I’m particularly interested to see letters specifically from people in the areas of Russia and Ukraine, as I’m wondering if their differences from the Western world due to location change their perspectives on the situation and what will happen to them. Russian Studies is an area of study I’ve taken to, and now that I know what I know about Russian culture and how removed it is from Western culture, I’ll be interested to see if the letters or subject matter differ from one to the other.
Below are the links to the Last Letters of the Holocaust I will be reading and annotating for next week.
