<Begin Segment 14>

AL: How did you end up in Chicago?

SK: My... during the war, they said that the young people can leave camp, or anybody can leave camp, and go east, but they couldn't go to the West Coast. And so I think one of my, well, I'm not quite sure whether it was brother or my sister that decided to move to Chicago. 'Cause that's where a lot of the Japanese had moved to. And so we, so then one by one my sisters all left camp. And, and my sister Mats was the last one to leave and she was a senior in high school in camp. And she decided, they decided, well, her sisters, my older sisters said that maybe she should go out there and finish high school out there. So she, she ended up in Evanston and graduated from there and eventually got a nice job out there.

AL: Did your family live together in Chicago or live separately? Your brothers and sisters?

SK: We had... we lived in an apartment building, and we were right next door to each other.

AL: And so your parents also were relocated out of camp?

SK: Yeah, we went to Chicago and my brother found a place for us.

AL: Did your dad get a job?

SK: He worked as a janitor and I can't remember who he worked for or anything. And he was, he worked nights, of course.

AL: Just going back to camp for a second. What do you remember about the "loyalty questionnaire"? Do you remember any discussions about, with your parents or neighbors?

SK: There was a lot of discussion about the loyalty and I was too young to understand all of that. But I do know that my sisters all said yes, they were going to sign it "yes-yes" instead of "yes and no" or whatever. But they decided that that was the thing to do.

AL: What about your brother and your parents?

SK: My brother, my brother did the same. He was not about to raise the roof on anything. [Laughs] He's not that kind of a person.

AL: Where were you when the war ended?

SK: Let's see. The war ended when we were in Chicago.

AL: Do you remember any feelings at that time, or thoughts?

SK: I was, all I know is I was glad the war was over. And I was, and once we knew that the war was over, well then my dad was talking about coming back to Bainbridge Island.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.