Densho Digital Archive - Nellie Mitani Interview (denshovh-mnellie-01-0023)

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RP: So the next time you saw your husband was in Crystal City?

NM: Yes.

RP: And what was that like when you got there and you had been apart for months?

NM: Well, he was still in the hospital. He came out of the hospital in Santa Fe to the hospital in Crystal City. And so he couldn't come out. Well he, he had to stay in, inside. And then so I would take Miyo and go and visit him through the window. And of course my biggest complaint was the mosquitoes they had, great big ones. I called them bombers. And the fleas. And I'm very allergic to fleabites, so it wasn't a very happy situation there. But later on he was able to come out and could visit outside the door. But that was sometime later.

RP: And, how did you end up going to Crystal City to be reunited with your husband? Did somebody approach you in Poston and say, you know, there's this, in Crystal, this family camp in Crystal City or did you inquire about that?

NM: I don't think so. I don't think that I knew about it. Yeah, Crystal City and such until probably later. There was talk about that and I don't know how we were chosen to go. But there were quite a number of families, a trainload anyway. I mean, a carload.

RP: What are some of your other vivid memories of the short time you spent in Crystal City?

NM: Well, there was a family, at that time I guess just the husband and wife were there. But, she grew gourds and made one of the ingredients that's used in the sushi. And they call it kampyo. And so I thought that was really something that she was able to do that there. And then the other thing was the Peruvian, Japanese descendent from Peru, she lived across the, from my, my room. And she was a very kindly woman and a big person. And, and I don't know, she was probably not pure Japanese. But anyway, she would make doughnuts. Not, not the, not the one with the hole in it but you know, and bring it over to me. And Miyo, we enjoyed her friendship.

KP: What, what language did she speak?

NM: Japanese.

KP: That's what you, that was your common language?

NM: Yes. Because otherwise she spoke Peruvian Spanish or whatever it is.

RP: Was, Crystal City was a very interesting camp because not only were there Japanese there but there were also Germans --

NM: Yes.

RP: -- and Italians, and you remember a story about, about the Germans there. Can you share that with us?

NM: Yeah, well, not exactly a story because I actually saw these women, big hefty women, and they would walk at a nice fast pace around the camp, around by the fence. That was their exercise, I think. They did that regularly. It was kind of fun to watch them walking around.