Minidoka Research Paper

The Minidoka Relocation camp was constructed in 1942 by the War Relocation Authority, as a result of the Japanese bombing of “Pearl Harbor”. During the war, thousands of Japanese Americans were forced to leave their homes and live in concentration camps. Minidoka was in charge of the North-West area, including states like Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and even Alaska. In total, about 125,000 were put in camps just like Minidoka. Approximately 13,000 were held at Minidoka from 1942 to 1945. The total site covered over 33,000 acres, but the site core is around 950 acres which took over $5 million at the time to build. When I first heard of this camp, I immediately thought it would be like a Nazi concentration camp, but it actually really surprised …show more content…
One detainee said that one of the most popular activities was basketball, where they would have competitive tournaments to stay entertained. They even held marriage ceremonies and religious meetings! Now, obviously they were still prisoners, and it was not fun being in a camp, but they weren’t treated too badly.Unfortunately, when the first batch of prisoners arrived at the camp, the construction was not complete, therefore there was no sewage system, and no running water. Upon arriving, one incarceree wrote the following, “When we first arrived here we almost cried, and thought that this is the land God had forgotten. The vast expanse of nothing but sagebrush and dust, a landscape so alien to our eyes, and a desolate, woe-begone feeling of being so far removed from home and fireside bogged us down mentally, as well as physically." Another evacuee wrote, "We were simply and utterly disgusted with... the camp... we found no running hot water, no sewer system, a hot, dry, dusty

Show More

Related Documents: Minidoka Research Paper

Minidoka Research Paper