<Begin Segment 12>

TI: So eventually in May, people in, Japanese Americans in Portland have to leave Portland.

LI: Yes.

TI: So what did your mom do with the hotel and all the other belongings? What did you do?

LI: I think my German grandfather took care of the hotel for us, or for my mother. And he kept it going for a while, I think, because -- this is a little further on -- but he used to bring Sunday newspapers and a little treat for us when we were in the evacuation center, the Portland center. And he was the kindest person. But he, I don't know if he sent my mother money or if he sent anything, but he took care of the hotel, so we were very grateful for that.

TI: Now do you remember his name?

LI: Arthur Boose. We still have a lot of paintings.

TI: And he was like a, before the war, a long term tenant at the hotel?

LI: Yes, he was. And I would go to his apartment from time to time, and he would show me how to paint, and he was a good mentor. He's gone now, of course, but I've never known a person so kind.

TI: And you said that he kept the hotel going for a time, so it sounds like maybe it didn't last throughout the war?

LI: Gosh, I don't know much more than that.

TI: That's okay. But then you said he visited you at the assembly center?

LI: Yes.

TI: So tell me about that. What was that like?

LI: Yes, he would come over and pass the newspapers to me (through the barbed wire), and he would give us some candy so we could pass it on to our friends, too. But it was so kind of him. I mean, I'll remember him forever. We have a lot of watercolor paintings that he did, and he was very, very, not commercial, but I'm sure one of the people down at the coast, somebody told them that I had some paintings, and she wanted to know if she could have some of them to sell in her art shop. But I didn't want to sell them. I think we had a couple with us, and still have them. He was a great grandpa to me.

TI: And so after the war, then, you stayed in touch with him, and he was still around? Or was this all before the war?

LI: No, I stayed... yes, because I have a picture of him when I was... how old was I? Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, thereabouts. And I have a picture with him.

TI: So I'm curious, you're pretty close to him. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor and all these things are starting to happen against Japanese and Japanese Americans, did he ever talk to you about what was going on?

LI: No, never. And he was always kind to me after the war, during the war. Well, after the war. That was the only time I saw him.

TI: Because I find it interesting the fact that he was German, and the United States was not only at war against Japan, but also with Germany. And just how he kind of felt about this.

LI: I don't think I ever heard. He was just Grandpa to me all the way through.

TI: That's sweet.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2013 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.