Mits Koshiyama Interview Segment 3

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ddr-densho-1002-6-3 (Legacy UID: denshovh-kmits-02-0003)

Memories of Santa Anita Assembly Center: feeling "confused and dumbfounded"

This interview was conducted by sisters Emiko and Chizuko Omori for their 1999 documentary, Rabbit in the Moon, about the Japanese American resisters of conscience in the World War II incarceration camps. As a result, the interviews in this collection are typically not life histories, instead primarily focusing on issues surrounding the resistance movement itself.

00:06:08 — Segment 3 of 11

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October 2, 1992

Emiko and Chizuko Omori Collection

Emiko and Chizuko Omori Collection

Courtesy of Emiko and Chizuko Omori

ddr-densho-1002-6

Mits Koshiyama

Mits Koshiyama Interview

01:07:58 — 11 segments

October 2, 1992

San Jose, California

Nisei male. Born August 7, 1924, in Mountain View, California. Grew up in the Santa Clara Valley, California, working on his family's leased strawberry farm. In June of 1942, he was involuntarily "evacuated" to Santa Anita Assembly Center, California, then to Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming. Graduated from high school in camp and at the age of 19, refused induction into the military on the grounds that the incarceration violated his Constitutional rights as an American citizen. Served two years at McNeil Island federal penitentiary, Washington. Later resettled in California and established a flower nursery business with his brother.

(This interview was conducted by sisters Emiko and Chizuko Omori for their 1999 documentary, Rabbit in the Moon, about the Japanese American resisters of conscience in the World War II incarceration camps. As a result, the interviews in this collection are typically not life histories, instead primarily focusing on issues surrounding the resistance movement itself.)

Chizu Omori, interviewer; Emiko Omori, interviewer; Emiko Omori and Witt Mons, videographer

Emiko and Chizuko Omori Collection

Courtesy of Emiko and Chizuko Omori

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