Densho Digital Repository - Mary Kato - Frances Kajita Nishi Interview (Densho ID: ddr-densho-1000-494-13)

<Begin Segment 13>

BY: So was this all in Tule Lake?

TI: Yeah, so I'll ask how long they were there?

MK: Until they asked those questions, "yes-yes" or "no-no."

TI: So the question is, do you remember discussing the decision?

MK: Well, we, if you say "no-no," you end up with no country. And we only knew America, so we didn't know anything about Japan. So we said "yes" and "no," so we got sent to another camp which was Topaz, Utah.

BY: So do you remember any of the --

MK: So we were all separated from Hood River people, we ended up in Topaz while the Hood River people mostly went to Minidoka or Heart Mountain.

BY: So ask her if she remembers any of the controversy around... do you remember any of the controversy around the "loyalty questionnaire"?

MK: Not really. All I remember now is that one question, the "yes" or "no."

BY: So, Frances, what do you remember about Topaz?

FN: Topaz I remember when I would be going to school, one of the, some of the boys would kind of bully me. And so my mother would have to escort me partway to school. And I had another friend named Grace Hayashi that I walked to school with, but they didn't bother her at all. So for some reason they picked on me. I mean, they didn't harm me or anything, but just called me names and things like that. And so I remember my mom... and then finally a couple of other girls, they were older, they started protecting me. And so the one thing that really amazed me was one of the girls that protected me, I think they ended up here in Seattle. And my husband dated her. [Laughs]

BY: That's funny, yeah.

FN: But I didn't know that.

BY: Mary, what do you remember about Topaz?

MK: I didn't want to work in the kitchen anymore, and they offered classes in nurse's aide, so I decided to take nurse's aide work there. So I had to walk up to the hospital because that's where they had everything up there from the hospital and the office. And so I took nurse's aide class. There was a lady there that was some kind of nurse, and she taught us all. So we all got little apron-like uniforms, and taking care of the patients. So then we'd have nights, some of us had nights where we'd stay over at the hospital there. It was a different experience.

BY: And, Frances, what happened to you then?

FN: Well, when I was in Topaz, I had to get my tonsils taken out. So I remember having my tonsils taken out and I would tell my sister, "I want some ice cream, popsicle, I want a popsicle." So that's all I remember about my surgery there.