<Begin Segment 6>

JA: What did you see the very first time you set eyes on the camp at Manzanar?

HF: Well, first thing we saw -- the first thing that I recall seeing was that the place wasn't finished yet. There was just a few barracks at the entrance. And then after we were there, the first thing that they told us to do was to grab a bag and put straws in the bag for your mattress, and that was, that was the first thing that I recall being told to do after we got there. And --

JA: Once you sort of settled in there, what was daily life like?

HF: Well, the daily, the daily life was, was very simple. In the beginning, there was -- actually, there was nothing for us to do. But as gradually days went by, if you wanted to work in the kitchen, there would be a job working in the kitchen, or if you wanted to get a job working, cleaning the latrine -- because we had... because we didn't have a private toilet, it was just like army-style. You had a, you had a common shower and a common toilet, and then common for the laundry. So everybody in that block used that one facility. Each block had that same facility, so you could get jobs doing that in the beginning. And as time went on, there was a fire department, there was a police department, and they had a newspaper, and then they had a farm, and then in time the hospital was built, so you can go and work in the hospital. So gradually there was, there was work for you, that is if you wanted to work. But if you didn't want to do anything, you didn't have to do anything. You can just spend your time in any way that you wished.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2002 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.