Densho Digital Archive - Rose Tanaka Interview (denshovh-trose

<Begin Segment 16>

AL: So what was life like in Manzanar in the early days, the first, say the first month you were there. What would a typical day be like?

RT: Well, it's just getting used to a new routine, getting used to the dust storms in the summertime, getting used to the snowstorms in the wintertime. Being from a part of the country that is very mild and has good weather, the surroundings were beautiful, right up against the Sierra Nevada Mountains on one side, and the Inyo Mountains on the other side, and the valley. But the weather was very hard on us, and that was it, and getting used to, all of a sudden, a whole new population of people, it was like going to a foreign country, to seeing all the... could you imagine? Everybody that looked like yourself. [Laughs]

AL: I heard a quote once about a child who was in the... I don't know if it was Manzanar or another camp, but a small child who said that, to his mother, "Take me back to America."

RT: That's right, I felt like I went to a foreign country. Well, of course, it was not out of choice, because it was, after all, a prison camp. I think I was aware that we were imprisoned.

AL: Were the towers constructed by the time you got there? Because four of them were built in July, I just don't know the date.

RT: As far as I could tell, everything was in place, barbed wire fences, the towers.

AL: And you were Block 30, so you were pretty close to the highway?

RT: Yes, towards the highway, towards the corner of the camp.

AL: Did you see the towers, did you see the people up there? What do you remember about the guard towers?

RT: Well, I didn't play much attention to them, actually. I mean, we knew that as long as we stayed within the limits of the camp there was no problem. The thing I do remember is that the place was, although it was a prison camp, the administration of that camp were humane. Except for the military presence, and that's all it was, was a presence, the people who administered the camp, the teachers who were there, and everyone there, treated us as if we were not harmful people, that we could be trusted. And I think that I really got to appreciate more the culture of where my family sprang from. Because the whole camp worked together to make a community that took care of each other and contributed in their own way, whether they were teachers or... they were coaches or musicians, or whatever skills they had. Religious leaders, they all gave their skills to make this a community that was tolerable and productive. So I think that from that standpoint, it taught me about community building.