Slowskys_RockNotes

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US Enters WWII Research Questions
Summarize the events of December 7, 1941.
 * The Japanese army bombed Pearl harbor, Hawaii out of the blue without warning. This sparked the American involvement in the war and distrust of Japanese americans.

Describe the actions taken by the United States government following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
 * soon after the bombing, America officially entered WWII and

What is an ‘alien enemy’?
 * It is a citizen of a country that is in conflict with the country they are in.

Were all of the detainees considered ‘alien enemies’?
 * The Japanese were unexpected enemies. they were definately considered alien enemies along with the german americans.

How and why was the United States able to inter people of Japanese and German descent?
 * They were able to inter japanese and germans because the president made the Proclamation 2525 stating that if anyone over 14 is part of a country that is in war with the US, they can be "restrained, secured, or removed as an alien enemy"

What was the US government able to do as a result of Proclamations 2525 and 2526?
 * The US government was given the authority to contain/remove anyone in the country, including japanese and german americans, who was in war with the US.

What were the circumstances surrounding Proclamation 2525 and 2526?
 * All Japanese and German americans were to be contained and removed from the general public due to thier relation to the war.

Concentration Camps vs Internment Camps Research Questions
What is the difference between a concentration camp and an internment camp?
 * A concentration camp was a place where people were kept just for dislike or not being accepted. They worked as laborers in terrible condtions and were eventually killed. An internment camp is a place where alien enemies were kept and confined because of where they came from.

How were internment camps organized?
 * everybody was tranfered camp to camp and were guarded.

Where were the internment camps?
 * a prison camp for holding enemy aliens, prisoners of war, political prisoners, etc.

What was life like in the internment camps?
 * There was poor food, cramped quarters, and communal facilities.Hundreds of people lived side by side in bunks with blankets hung for privacy. Rats ran freely. Medical care and food was poor.

Were there different internment camps for Japanese and Germans?
 * Yes there were.

How were the Japanese and German camps similar and different?
 * They both contained and held people from the public.

German Americans Research Questions
How did life change for German Americans after the start of WWII?
 * German Americans suffered greatly for their "enemy" ethnicity. The language was not allowed to be spoken and all german newspapers and books burned or put out of business.

How were they treated by Americans and others in the US?
 * The FBI ransacked their houses and took them to a different place. They were taken from the families and put in internment camps.

Why were they treated this way?
 * They were considered bad people for what their ethnicity did. Americans thought they were just as bad as the Nazis and Hitler.

Were German Americans sympathetic to or against Hitler and the Nazis?
 * Some were against and some were sympathetic too. They thought they shouldnt be punished though for something Hitler and the Nazis did.

How did their support of or lack of support for Hitler affect their lives in the US?
 * German Americans accused of being "pro-German" were tarred and feathered, and, in at least once instance, lynched. They were mistreated even if they were against Hitler.

Notes about personal story one.
 * friedman studied law until he was arrested and put in a concentration camp
 * eventually got out and went to america and coulcnt study law because his english wasnt too good so he sold pastries door to door
 * taken again to internemnt camp and finally let out again. he never returned to law
 * so scared that he covered up his name and never gave it out.

Notes about personal story two.
 * parents germn, kids american
 * dad in ellis island, later everyone*kid celebrates birthday in cell
 * father continues work

Notes about personal story three.
 * man leaves to police and wife stays at farm
 * man goes to internment camp
 * comes back and there is nothing left
 * close to 100 years old

Notes about personal story four.
 * FBI watched the house
 * were going to be intrned
 * begged for mercy to the President
 * french spat in face

Notes about personal story five.
 * took father away and didnt know location
 * not wanted
 * went to frankfurt with what they had left
 * thought they were spies
 * wife was neve rthe same, nrvous breakdown
 * kids returned to US
 * still dont know why he was arrested

Hi my name is Ilsa*. I am a German American living in America at the time of World War II. I lived in Germany with my parents and 5 year old brother, Quiggly as I called him, until I was 12. We were very poor- my mother worked as a tailor and my father worked as a shoe manufacturer. My parents sought better job opportunity in America so we scraped up the money we had and moved to a town called Cincinnati. My parents found the same jobs but with better pay so we lived somewhat better until I turned 16. During the war with America and Germany, my parents were taken away to internment camp. Quiggly and I ran away, we were born in Germany and of german decent so that caught the attention of the FBI. They might have thought 2 kids like us were helping the Nazis all the way in Germany. Quiggly and I had no home until a farmer found us sleeping with his pigs, he offered us food and shelter in his barn for our labor. He was convinced that we weren’t German Americans. We stayed on the farm for 2 more years working hard for our rations. It was laborious work but the farmer was a generous man and treated us with respect. But one day, police came to inspect the farm. Me and my brother had to run, the farmer gave us a loaf of bread and told us to run to his cousin’s barber shop down west in Chicago. The farmer still sought to protect us, somehow I knew that he knew we were german Americans on the run. We ran east untill we saw tall structures and loud streets. We roamed around the city untill a man outside a barbershop called us in. He was related to the farmer and offered us food and shelter just like his cousin for simpler labor. For about 3 years we lived in the basement of the barbershop, me and my brother would clean the combs and scissors or sweep the hair from the floor. I was even able to learn how to cut people's hair. Me and my brother started to get attatched to our new friends who helped us get through tough times. We treated the barber like a father untill one day, we found him in the broom closet passed out. We took him to the hospitol and we found out he tripped over a bucket and hit his head on the doorknob of the closet and had a serious conccussion. When we arrived, it was to late to save him. Since we were the last ones with him we inherited the barber shop. With my knowledge of being with the barber I learned how to cut people's hair and with more studying I learned how to do more complex hair styles. Slowly me and my brother grew up, I got a driver's license and I put my brother in school. One year later the war ended and we no longer had to hide anything. To this day we are lucky to be in America and to be ALIVE. We have never found our parents and I hope they have found peace and one day we will reunite. We are pseudonyms so that nobody tries to put us in jail for being German Americans like our parents.