Living conditions

All of the camps were constructed according to the War Department's specifications, which included barbed-wire fences, guard towers, and armed guards around the perimeter. The camps were organized in "blocks" consisting of twelve to fourteen barracks, a mess hall, communal showers and toilets, laundry facilities, and a recreation hall. Each barracks was divided into four or six rooms with each room housing one family, no matter how large, and there was no running water. The furnishings that Japanese Americans found on their arrival were canvas cots, a potbellied stove, and a single bare light bulb. The thin walls offered little protection from the harsh weather, which ranged from 110 degrees in the summer to 25 degrees below zero on winter nights. The flimsy construction allowed no privacy and made normal family life difficult. Camp inmates improved their own living conditions by creating interior walls and partitions, constructing furniture from scrap lumber, and planting gardens.

World War II (277)
Concentration camps (1771)
Living conditions (1870)

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1870 items

img Minidoka water tower and chicken cages (ddr-densho-518-25)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Looking North Water tower and Chicken Cages.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-25/

img Sage brush at Minidoka (ddr-densho-518-203)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Sage Brush. See also ddr-densho-518-13.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-203/

img Firefighters at play (ddr-densho-518-207)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Fire men [sic] at Play, [left to right] [unidentified], [unidentified], Ben, Bosko, Norio, Yoshitake.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-207/

img Desert flower at Minidoka (ddr-densho-518-14)

This photograph is a cutout in the shape of a "1" for a title page. See also ddr-densho-518-255.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-14/

img Path outside block 7 (ddr-densho-518-107)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Block 7, Looking North. See also ddr-densho-518-6.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-107/

img Sage brush fire around a water tower (ddr-densho-518-204)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Sage Brush Fire around Water Tower.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-204/

img Minidoka sewer system (ddr-densho-518-32)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Sewer system from water tower.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-32/

img Minidoka entry gate and tower (ddr-densho-518-22)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Gate.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-22/

img View of Minidoka from water tower (ddr-densho-518-26)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: M. P. Barrachs [sic], Hospital, from top of water tower.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-26/

img Sugitachi in the block 7 washroom (ddr-densho-518-110)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Block 7, Wash Room [sic], Sugitachi.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-110/

img Path outside block 7 (ddr-densho-518-6)

This photograph is a cutout in the shape of a "U" for a title page. See also ddr-densho-518-107.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-6/

img View of Minidoka housing (ddr-densho-518-19)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Camp Looking West, Ad area hill, Block 10, Block 7.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-19/

img Smoke cloud above Minidoka (ddr-densho-518-213)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Fire.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-213/

img Man rolling up a fire hose (ddr-densho-518-217)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Smoky Rolling Hose.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-217/

img Firefighters at a brush fire (ddr-densho-518-215)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Fire men at Sage brush Fire, Bill Nakamura [middle], Norio [right].

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-215/

img Desert flower at Minidoka (ddr-densho-518-255)

See also ddr-densho-518-14.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-255/

img View of Minidoka (ddr-densho-518-21)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Camp Looking West, Block 17 - 15.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-21/

img Minidoka gymnasium (ddr-densho-518-28)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Gym.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-28/

img View of Minidoka housing (ddr-densho-518-18)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Camp Looking West, Blocks Five, Three, One.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-18/

img Minidoka firefighters (ddr-densho-518-206)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Fire men [sic].

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-206/

img Minidoka fire station (ddr-densho-518-33)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Fire station From Water Tower.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-33/

img Minidoka water tower (ddr-densho-518-24)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Just off Block 39.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-24/

img Shimbo-san in the block 7 boiler room (ddr-densho-518-109)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Block 7 Boiler Room, Shimbosan [sic].

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-109/

img Minidoka sewer system (ddr-densho-518-30)

Written next to photograph in scrapbook: Sewer System from Fire Station.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-30/

img Rock formation at Minidoka (ddr-densho-518-254)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-518-254/