Densho Digital Archive - Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga Interview (denshovh-haiko-02-0003)

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EO: Where were you born?

AH: I was born in Sacramento, California, seventy years ago.

[Interruption]

AH: Our family moved from Sacramento, where we were living, in 1933, as part of the large movement of people during the Depression time, and my father wanted to try something new, so we all moved to Los Angeles. I went to grammar school, high school -- junior high school and high school in Los Angeles, and I was in my senior year when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. I happened to be at a party of my peers. We heard, through the radio, that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. We just couldn't believe it. The party broke up.

[Interruption]

EO: Do you remember what you were doing when you heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor?

AH: When the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred, I was at a party of my high school friends, and it was, we were just shocked. It was hard to believe that this had happened. Of course, at the mom-, at that time, we didn't know how it would actually affect us, but we knew it would be affecting us in some way. The party broke up, we all went home. And I think our parents took it much harder because, as you know, as most -- perhaps a lot of people don't know -- that persons of Japanese ancestry who were immigrants were not permitted to become American citizens at that time, in 1942. This didn't change until 1952, ten years later, when they were finally permitted to become American citizens. My father and mother had been here a number of years, but by law, they were, could not become naturalized citizens. So, of course, we were concerned as to what would happen to the immigrant parents who were considered aliens. And of course, as soon as the war broke out, they were considered "enemy aliens." If the immigrant was from either Japan, Italy, or Germany. He automatically -- he or she -- automatically became an enemy alien. We did not think -- at least I didn't, and I think many of us who were second-generation Japanese, Nisei -- didn't think much about what would be happening to us. We were concerned about our parents. We thought we were American citizens, therefore we were protected. We were protected by the Constitution to continue to have the freedom, the liberty that we, all Americans have a right to. I didn't know directly what happened to many of the older Japanese men who were apparently picked up by the FBI agents and immediately, following the war, placed in jails. My father was not one of these who was picked up because he was not a community leader. He was not a teacher of Japanese language schools, he was not a Buddhist priest, he was a little, a small businessman. And so we were spared the shock that many families went through when their fathers were abruptly taken away from their homes and jailed, simply for being an "enemy alien," not for any crimes that they had committed. So when we -- yes?

EO: This was a Sunday.

AH: This was a Sunday, right.

EO: And did you go back to school the next day?

AH: We, as I recall, we did go back to school. Things had changed, though. I think our friends, non-Japanese friends, didn't really know how to treat us. I think they knew that we would be hurt if they ostracized us. On the other hand, just like our neighbors who lived around us, I believe that they felt if they were too friendly with us, they would be labeled "Jap-lovers." Therefore, our friends, our schoolmates were caught in a little dilemma. I think there were those who didn't care what other Caucasians or blacks felt. They were friends, and they remained friends and played with us. But on the whole, it became harder and harder for them to remain our friends. We were treated with a sort of disdain. I think we were stigmatized simply because of, of our ethnicity. And I think that that's one of the most painful experiences, the feelings about the entire wartime experience. That we were judged, not on our own character as people and persons, but simply because of our ethnicity, something that I think goes against the grain of democracy, of the Constitution and every right and privilege that we're supposed to enjoy as American citizens. It was very difficult to accept being non-Caucasian at the, at the time.

EO: Do you, could you tell me... do you remember when curfew was imposed, and that was before the order? There was a curfew, right?

AH: Yes. The curfew that the army imposed upon, upon us was, see, I forget the date of it, but I remember that we were not allowed to be outside of our homes after 8 o'clock at night or before 6 o'clock in the morning. And that curfew covered the territory, it was like 5 miles from our own home. If we had to leave beyond 5 miles, I believe we had to have a permit from the government, from the army, probably, that would permit us to be outside of our home area, which was beyond 5 miles. This curfew was also imposed upon German and Italian aliens. At the very beginning, I believe the government, especially, I would say the government -- when I say "government," I really mean the army -- were strict about this curfew and they enforced it rather broadly. But as weeks went on, it was very apparent that the curfew was meant especially for those of Japanese ancestry. And the restrictions were slowly relaxed against non-Japanese aliens.