Densho Digital Archive
Steven Okazaki Collection
Title: Fred Korematsu Interview
Narrator: Fred Korematsu
Location: San Francisco, California
Date: November 15, 1983
Densho ID: denshovh-kfred-01-0006

<Begin Segment 6>

Q: Could you tell us what your hearing was like and how you were feeling during that time?

FK: Well, when we went into the court for the hearing, there wasn't very many there. The government attorney, the judge, myself, and Mr. Besig. And there were a few others, but they were all the government officials, I think. And they put the bail at five thousand dollars. So Mr. Besig posted the bail. And he did that real fast. He was prepared for it. He wrote out the check, and so we were free to go, so Mr. Besig and I decided to leave the court. And as we were just about to get out the door, there the MPs were. And one of 'em drew a gun and he says, "I'm sorry, we have orders that you cannot leave." And we argued, Mr. Besig argued that, "Well, he's a civilian. He hasn't got anything to do with the military. You're military men. We haven't got anything to do with you." But he got all frustrated and everything, and he says, "Well, I'm sorry, I got orders from the high command that you can't leave." So the attorney, the government attorney and so forth, heard this, and he was running back to the judge and so forth and whispering to him, and then they raised the bail to ten thousand dollars, assuming that Mr. Besig didn't have that kind of money. But he laughed, you know, and he could have, go ahead, and he had the money to do it, I guess. But he finally said, "Well, let's see what happens. Go ahead with the military." And so they took me, and they took me down to the Presidio. You know, it's an unusual thing to do, because I'm not a, I'm not a military man. Why take me down to the Presidio? And yet they took me down to the Presidio because they didn't know what to do with me, and they didn't, they had orders not to release me out in the street. So I stayed at the Presidio for about, oh, almost a week, I guess, three or four days or more. And I really enjoyed it at the Presidio, because the meals were terrific and they treated me real good. And, in fact, it was better than the prison. I didn't mind, I says, "Hey, give me a job here at the Presidio and I'll stay here the rest of the war." "Oh, no, no, I can't do, we can't do that." [Laughs] And finally they had orders to take me to Tanforan racetracks. He says, "Come on, Fred, we have to take you down there." So they were halfway down there, and then there was a military man up there, up ahead, that waved us back, waved us down, and told us that they had to take me back to the Presidio again. I don't know, someone was trying to rush me out of the Presidio, I think, without, without any authority. So they took me back to the Presidio and I stayed there another day, then they finally got the real orders to take me back to camp, take me to camp in Tanforan.

And as I was going to that camp, Tanforan racetrack, I can see from the freeway the Japanese people in there, and the kids and everything, you know. And you know what that reminds me of? A... what do you call it, an Indian reservation camp like. Because all the kids were dark and brown from the sun, you know, being out there in the sun. And it was dusty and everything, you know, at the... it seemed like it was an Indian reservation camp. I mean, it didn't look very... I don't know what you'd explain it. Like people that haven't got very much money and had to be put into a camp. And, but anyway, as I arrived in camp, I told them that I'd prefer to have my own stall for the time being before I meet my folks. I want to think of what to say to them and so forth. So they says, "Okay," so they assigned me a certain number stall. And I went over there with whatever belongings I had, which I didn't have very much, because the FBI took everything, they didn't give me anything back, all my clothes and everything. And I looked up the number, and I opened the door, and here the door, the front door, they had a gap about, oh, about six to eight inches from the ground, and it was dirt floor. And there inside, they just had a cot and a straw mattress in there. And there's gaping holes all on the walls, and the wind just blew in there, and the dust blew in there and everything as I sat there, as I lie down on the cot to think it over. And I guess I was there for about forty-five minutes, and I said, "Boy, this is really a miserable place," you know. No heat, there isn't any heat or anything. I mean, it's made for horses, not for human beings. And I just wonder how in the world the people lived in this this long. And then all of a sudden I hear a knock on the door, and I open it and it was my brother. He says, "Hey, you can't stay here, you got to come and see the folks." And I said, "Well, I want to stay here and think it over a little bit." "No, no, you're coming with us." So, "Okay," I went. And it was way on the other side, and I was surprised the way they fixed up their stall. And they filled up all the cracks, and they put newspaper for the walls, you know, papered it all up, and they made it more homely as possible. I was surprised what they did.

Q: How do you think living there affected them?

FK: Well, since everyone was in the same boat, and they made the best of it, you know, and now that they don't have to worry about what's gonna happen to their business... because for the last few months before the evacuation, their business was practically standstill, and that included all business of the Japanese Americans. They just barely had enough food to live in, I mean, to eat and so forth. And so now that they're in camp, they didn't have to worry about that, so they're more or less, that relief of the pressure of how to make a living was gone, and they were more trying to be as comfortable as they can. And they were meeting more friends, because they're all in, all in the same boat.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 1983, 2010 Densho and Steven Okazaki. All Rights Reserved.