Tazu Suzuki

I was living in Seattle, Washingto as an apartment manager's wife, at the outbreak of the war. When we were ordered to evacuate I was furious but since this was my home in the U.S. we had to obey the government.

We were given just a couple of days, maybe a week to get ready. All I took were our clothes. I left all my furniture an belongings, which wasn't very much. My husband was a humanitarian, missionary type person and gave most of it to his friends. I have no idea at the estimated loss as my husband took care of all money matters.

I was at the Puyallup Assembly center for about four months, before going to Minidoka, Idaho. The living conditions at the camp were very difficult to live in because of the barrack-no privacy type situations. Also since most things were communal in use no one took responsibility for its use and/or care and cleaning, i.e. cleaning of the bathrooms which everyone used, so I helped organize a clean up crew.

I helped in the kitchen in camp. All the foods we were given to cook with was the worse quality, i.e. potatoes were already sprouting and rooting. Also the quantity was very limiting.

My first impression at camp was the dryness with sage brushes, dirt, and smelly barracks. The fenced in desert environment was not a place to raise a family. There was never any privacy for family discussions nor was there anything for people to do. Our family was separated by the war. Two of my children were in Japan and we had no communication with them. My mother two children were either playing freely with the other children in camp or helping their father plow garden plots in the desert barrack soils.

The reason we were here in the U.S. was to make a fortune and to return home but we never did so we remained here and forever loyal. My children were naturalized citizens.