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Densho Visual History Collection
Title: May Ohmura Watanabe Interview
Narrator: May Ohmura Watanabe
Interviewer: Nina Wallace
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: December 28, 2018
Densho ID: ddr-densho-1000-454-7

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NW: Well, so let's talk about that a little bit. Do you remember when they administered the "loyalty questionnaire?"

MW: It was just before I was leaving camp, because I got accepted to continue my education. But I was still working at the hospital, and I worked an evening shift. And I was brought home by the ambulance, because eleven o'clock or close to twelve at night. And I remember my father opening the door, "Come in, quickly." And there was shouting and people were shouting outside, and even throwing rocks because... and they called my father inu because the "loyalty oath," he said "yes." I've tried to... he felt he was a citizen, his children are citizens, so they need to grow up, go to school and so forth. And I think this is why. And as I remember, I think he had said "no" at first but then changed. And my reasoning is that he was thinking of us and our future. But there were neighbors who were friends, who called him traitor, I guess, inu. And literally physical threats. So we were moved from one barrack to another section.

And then at that time is when I was getting this opportunity to go out to school. My church, the Presbyterian church, had helped with documents, and the Friends, the American Friends Committee did so much, the national office, they got my papers and helped to get me admitted. First, the Presbyterian church because Wooster College is Presbyterian, had given me a scholarship. Then I found out that in order to become a nursing, I would have to go to Cleveland because they had no real nursing school. I thought, this is getting very complicated. And then the government had this program where if you promised to become a nurse for two years, I mean, to work as a nurse for two years, you get a scholarship. So I thought, wow, everything free, so I can do that. And then I asked my church if they could give the scholarship to my brother, so that worked out fine. So I left before all the movement from Tule Lake to other camps.

NW: The movement of other people being transferred to Tule Lake from other camps?

MW: Right. So that's what happened, and I never saw the other camp where they went to Colorado, to Amache.

NW: Your family?

MW: Yes, after I left.

NW: So they were transferred out of Tule Lake? Did that have to do, do you think, with your family being targeted?

MW: No, everybody who said "yes" were moved out of Tule. And then we had all these "no" people come in to Tule, but that happened after I left.

NW: I see.

MW: Then there was a big movement, so all the ruckus that happened after that, I don't know about. At least, I didn't experience that. And I don't even know what the life at Amache was like for my parents, because it wasn't that long. And I went on to Syracuse, first a hostel stop in Chicago, then Cleveland, and then to Syracuse. Already they had these hostels set up where people who were coming out could stay temporarily until they could relocate. So it was pretty amazing how those things just kind of happened. But once again, I feel that things went so well for me that I think I was pretty naive. And then when I went to Syracuse, there were, I believe, twelve other Niseis. They were engineering, I know a couple of engineering people, so a couple who were graduate students, PhDs, and then there were nursing from the Los Angeles area, the coast.

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