<Begin Segment 7>

KN: I'm going to transition into Pearl Harbor now, okay?

EK: Okay.

KN: So can you tell me how old you were and where you were when you heard about...

EK: Well, we were at this farm on Sandy, and I think January... December 7th, in the evening, I heard on the radio, and I thought, "Well, now what's going to happen to us?"

KN: And who was with you at that time?

EK: Well, the whole family. I had Joyce, and the parents were living with us. And then there was a couple of hired help was on the farm with us.

KN: And were you living in the same house with your parents at that time?

EK: Uh-huh.

KN: And was there any discussion with the family or with your siblings about what was going to happen?

EK: No. We just didn't, just didn't.

KN: And what happened the next day, or the next few days after going to school and in the neighborhood?

EK: Well, of course, I wasn't going to school, but I don't know. I just... lost. I didn't know what we were going to do or what they were going to do to us.

KN: What were some of your fears?

EK: Well, I don't know. I just didn't have any feeling. I just didn't know what was going to happen.

KN: Did you notice anyone treating you differently? Did anyone treat you differently, like at the grocery store?

EK: Well, we had a real wonderful neighbor that looked after us, and she used to... and then when we had to go to the assembly center, she took us there.

KN: Was there more prejudice and discrimination after Pearl Harbor? Do you remember anything in particular that happened to you?

EK: Well, there wasn't much, but one thing that I remember, there was a Red and White store in Fairview. I didn't know where to go when we first came back, and I got in the door, and said, "You're a Jap. Get out of here. We don't trade with Japs." So that was then, but then I don't know if you remember the Zimmerman store, that Carl was wonderful and he took care of us.

KN: And that was before you had left for the assembly center? Was that before?

EK: No, that was after.

KN: When you came home?

EK: Uh-huh.

KN: What about before? Did you have any problems buying anything?

EK: No, we didn't.

KN: And do you remember if there were any incidences at school or in the community?

EK: No, I don't. Teachers were very understanding.

KN: And was there any talk about the war after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in your house?

EK: No.

KN: Did anyone in the family get arrested?

EK: No, my dad was ready to go, had his suitcase ready because several of these people here in Portland and Gresham were taken to the special camps, but no, he was one of the lucky ones.

KN: Why was he ready to go? Why did he think he was...

EK: Well, he used to be, we had a Japanese community... what do you call it? Anyway, he used to be president, and he was pretty prominent in Gresham-Troutdale, and so he figured he might be picked up. But luckily he wasn't.

KN: And when that was going on, what did you and your siblings and your husband and your mother do to prepare for that?

EK: Well, we got notice, of course, and so we had to prepare to go to camp.

KN: How did you get that notice?

EK: Down to what?

KN: How did you get that notice?

EK: This good friend of ours looked after us.

KN: When the executive order came out, the executive order, how did you hear about executive order?

EK: I still didn't...

KN: The Executive Order 9066? How did you hear about that?

EK: The radio. There was a notice that went around, too.

KN: And how did that notice go around?

EK: I just don't remember.

KN: Were there notices in the community, like pasted up on billboards?

EK: Uh-huh.

KN: And getting prepared to leave, what were you thinking and what were you feeling?

EK: Well, I thought we'd never come home, is the only feeling I have. Of course, it felt like it was a duty that we had to do anyway, being a good citizen. And I still can't, still couldn't understand why good citizens had to.

KN: And at that time, you had mentioned that you had your oldest daughter Joyce. Did you have any other children?

EK: No. The second one was born in camp. Joyce was three years old.

KN: And how was life, you know, for Joyce? Did she have a lot of Japanese friends at that time?

EK: Uh-uh.

KN: What did you think of to pack? How did you know what to pack?

EK: Well, I was really concerned about our in-laws in Japan, wondering what's going to happen to them.

KN: And did you ever communicate to find out what happened to them?

EK: You know, Switzerland was neutral, and the Red Cross took us over a couple of times, we sent messages and message came back. We told them we were safe, we were in camp, but then we got a message back several months later from the Red Cross saying Japanese families are secure and safe. Of course, no letters went by.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2014 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.