Living conditions

The "assembly centers" were hastily erected quarters located throughout the West Coast at fairgrounds, racetracks and other similar facilities. Conditions at these locations were appalling. People were housed in animal stalls and barracks with communal bathrooms and mess halls. Privacy was next to nonexistent. Most families lived in a 20-by-20-foot room separated from the next "apartment" by wood partitions that did not reach the ceiling. Shortages of food and deplorable sanitation were common. Overcrowding, uncertainty, and stress created tension in the "assembly centers," even as the demoralized camp inmates tried to improve living conditions.

World War II (231)
Temporary Assembly Centers (231)
Living conditions (389)

Facilities
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389 items
Louise Kashino Segment 12 (ddr-densho-1000-31-12)
vh Louise Kashino Segment 12 (ddr-densho-1000-31-12)
Leaving Seattle: packing extra food just in case; first impressions of the Puyallup Assembly Center

For the first hour of this interview, an additional camera crew from KCTS Television was also present.

Akio Hoshino Segment 8 (ddr-densho-1000-26-8)
vh Akio Hoshino Segment 8 (ddr-densho-1000-26-8)
Memories of Puyallup Assembly Center: friendly guards, ice skating, and arguing over steel cots
Joe Yamakido Interview Segment 5 (ddr-densho-1000-167-5)
vh Joe Yamakido Interview Segment 5 (ddr-densho-1000-167-5)
Unpleasant memories of Santa Anita Assembly Center, California, working as a trashman
Nobu Suzuki Interview I Segment 25 (ddr-densho-1000-84-25)
vh Nobu Suzuki Interview I Segment 25 (ddr-densho-1000-84-25)
Conditions in Puyallup: getting chicken pox, army looks for contraband in a chocolate cake brought by visitors

References are made to several of Nobu Suzuki's personal papers, which are currently available for public perusal at the University of Washington's Manuscripts and University Archives.

Nobu Suzuki Interview I Segment 26 (ddr-densho-1000-84-26)
vh Nobu Suzuki Interview I Segment 26 (ddr-densho-1000-84-26)
Attitude toward violation of rights, "There was nothing we could do about it because they had the guns"

References are made to several of Nobu Suzuki's personal papers, which are currently available for public perusal at the University of Washington's Manuscripts and University Archives.

Nobu Suzuki Interview I Segment 24 (ddr-densho-1000-84-24)
vh Nobu Suzuki Interview I Segment 24 (ddr-densho-1000-84-24)
Memories of Puyallup Assembly Center: setting up a makeshift hospital without medical equipment

References are made to several of Nobu Suzuki's personal papers, which are currently available for public perusal at the University of Washington's Manuscripts and University Archives.

Hideo Hoshide Interview I Segment 43 (ddr-densho-1000-184-43)
vh Hideo Hoshide Interview I Segment 43 (ddr-densho-1000-184-43)
Dealing with difficult living conditions in Pinedale: no privacy, incredible heat, shared facilities
Louise Kashino Segment 16 (ddr-densho-1000-31-16)
vh Louise Kashino Segment 16 (ddr-densho-1000-31-16)
Working as a "tray girl" in Puyallup Assembly Center

For the first hour of this interview, an additional camera crew from KCTS Television was also present.

Louise Kashino Segment 13 (ddr-densho-1000-31-13)
vh Louise Kashino Segment 13 (ddr-densho-1000-31-13)
Health concerns, bad Vienna sausages in Puyallup Assembly Center

For the first hour of this interview, an additional camera crew from KCTS Television was also present.

Tatsukichi Moritani Interview Segment 9 (ddr-densho-1001-2-9)
vh Tatsukichi Moritani Interview Segment 9 (ddr-densho-1001-2-9)
First sight of Manzanar concentration camp: "sure is a desolate-looking place"
Jim Hirabayashi Interview Segment 9 (ddr-densho-1002-5-9)
vh Jim Hirabayashi Interview Segment 9 (ddr-densho-1002-5-9)
Memories of Pinedale Assembly Center: playing sports, attending school

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 …

Tsuguo
vh Tsuguo "Ike" Ikeda Interview I Segment 10 (ddr-densho-1000-123-10)
Memories of the Portland Assembly Center, Oregon: working to distribute dairy products, help people settle

As a teenager prior to World War II, began keeping scrapbooks with newspaper articles and memorabilia, a lifetime habit.

Art Abe Interview Segment 17 (ddr-densho-1000-206-17)
vh Art Abe Interview Segment 17 (ddr-densho-1000-206-17)
Feeling bitter upon being removed: "I couldn't believe what the government was doing to us"
Hisaye Yamamoto Interview Segment 6 (ddr-densho-1002-10-6)
vh Hisaye Yamamoto Interview Segment 6 (ddr-densho-1002-10-6)
Memories of mass removal; first impressions of Parker Dam Assembly Center, Arizona

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 …

Hideo Hoshide Interview I Segment 41 (ddr-densho-1000-184-41)
vh Hideo Hoshide Interview I Segment 41 (ddr-densho-1000-184-41)
Impressions of Pinedale Assembly Center; working for the newspaper, the Pinedale Logger
Yukiko Miyake Segment 26 (ddr-densho-1000-49-26)
vh Yukiko Miyake Segment 26 (ddr-densho-1000-49-26)
Challenging the guards at Puyallup Assembly Center: "What are you going to do? Kill us?"
Jim Akutsu Segment 20 (ddr-densho-1000-2-20)
vh Jim Akutsu Segment 20 (ddr-densho-1000-2-20)
Attempting to improve conditions at Puyallup Assembly Center and running into resistance

Interview was conducted over two days because of delays caused by technical difficulties.

Bob Suzuki Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1000-452-3)
vh Bob Suzuki Segment 3 (ddr-densho-1000-452-3)
Childhood memories of the Portland Assembly center and Minidoka concentration camp
June Takahashi Segment 19 (ddr-densho-1000-88-19)
vh June Takahashi Segment 19 (ddr-densho-1000-88-19)
"Visitors" wanting to see an "Eskimo" in Puyallup Assembly Center
Bill Hosokawa Interview Segment 14 (ddr-densho-1000-129-14)
vh Bill Hosokawa Interview Segment 14 (ddr-densho-1000-129-14)
Impressions of the Puyallup Assembly Center, Washington: "What the hell are they trying to do to us?"; controversy over Jimmie Sakamoto's role in Puyallup, and being sent to Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming
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