Densho Digital Archive
Twin Cities JACL Collection
Title: George M. Yoshino Interview
Narrator: George M. Yoshino
Interviewer: Tom Ikeda
Location: Bloomington, Minnesota
Date: June 17, 2009
Densho ID: denshovh-ygeorge_3-01-0010

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TI: Yeah, so now going back to the FBI picking up men, you said first they picked up the three initially. Do you recall what you and the other people in the community thought when they picked up, I think you said the Matsuoka and (Yabuki Tsushima).

GY: Yeah, they were the leaders of the community. And why they would pick them up, I still don't know. Nobody was charged with anything, but they picked 'em up. As far as my dad goes, I don't know why.

TI: Yeah, that's what I'm curious... so when they started doing that, were people fearful or were they confused, mad?

GY: Oh, yeah. Whoever -- they didn't panic. Whoever was the head of an organization, I think they took it for granted that maybe they'll get pulled in. From the community there was four from our...

TI: Now, when they were taking your father away, did your father say anything to you -- because you were the oldest son and you were there -- about taking care of the family or anything like that?

GY: No, he didn't. We just took it for granted that, "You guys carry on."

TI: So any reactions from your younger brothers like Kenji or Hikaru about what should be done or anything like that?

GY: They were very... we were still young, yet. So we just carried on, that's all. That's about it.

TI: But all the decisions in terms of selling the horse and the crops, did that fall on your shoulders?

GY: Mine and my mother's, yeah. Them were the days. Well, the Sanseis, maybe some of the younger Niseis, maybe they didn't feel it as much as the older ones did, you know. But it's history now. We just talk about it like I'm talking about it right now.

TI: Okay, before we move away from Bellevue, I just want to go back and ask you about whether or not, did you go to church back then before...

GY: Yeah. When we were kids growing up, we went to Sunday school and stuff like that. But our denomination, I can't tell you what it is, I think it was congregational church where we went, and we go by attendance. At that time, they gave us different kind of pins, colored pins, to denote our constant attendance. [Laughs] From there, where did we go? Oh, we went to, turned to Baptists, Baptist ministers and stuff came out to Bellevue, and they had a little get-together. Then in camp, we went to Tule Lake. At that time, church was all mixed up, 'cause all different denominations were there in Tule.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright ©2009 Densho and the Twin Cities JACL. All Rights Reserved.