Not only were Japanese families affected by Executive Order 9066, but so were those of German descent as documented in a new book. by Bob Nightingale
(libertarian)
Monday, November 7, 2011
Recently, Japanese-American veterans of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team received Bronze Stars for their contributions during World War II. According this article on the U.S. Army website, Executive Order 9066 authorized the interment of 115,000 of Japanese descent.
However, that executive order also led to the internment of thousands of people of German descent.
For over a year, I’ve worked on a book documenting daily life of a family left behind when their loved one is sent “to camp.” The book Camp Letters: 1942 – 1945 is now available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.
Bruno Stiller was arrested in his home in 1942. He was a German-born resident alien, married to an American. At the time, he and his wife had three children and were expecting their fourth. They ran a family restaurant in Prairie View, Illinois. He was officially ordered into camp June 5, 1942.
During his interment, Bruno was shuttled among camps in Wisconsin, Tennessee, Texas and North Dakota. What helped his spirits was that he knew his family were waiting for him to return. His wife Alice wrote him almost daily. Here is part of one of his wife’s letters dated April 14, 1943:
Always remember there is a God in heaven and He will look after our interests and things just take a little time but everything depends on the attitude you take. They do not divulge just why you are in the camp and since you are not positive about who caused your trouble it is best to forget about certain ones you suspect. I want you to get a rehearing and it means everything in the attitude you take about being interned. Sure, by rights you should be home, we need you here, very bad, but don‘t feel bitter against anyone. It is a combination of a lot of circumstances and no one thing caused it. You know if it was just certain people, [their attorney] Osborne could have helped, but as it is a lot things and not any one thing, it just leaves one conclusion. They feel that your sympathy is with Germany, without considering the fact that your whole interest is entirely for America. This is proven by the fact you married an American born, put all your work and effort of 21 years in our established home and business and raise your children to be good American citizens too. They don‘t speak a word of German, in fact, if you did not come in contact with the German speaking fellows, there in Tenn., I doubt whether you would have brushed up on your mother tongue yourself.
Bruno Stiller was my grandfather.I wrote about him previously here at Nolan Chart. In “Grampa’s War Stories,” I wrote how Bruno was drafted as a teenager to fight in World War One, and how he wanted nothing further to do with war, so he emigrated from Germany to the United States. Since that article, I spent a lot of time researching my family history. I found these letters in a box in my aunt's house marked simply "Camp Letters" in fat black marker.
In late 1943, Alice decided to join him with their children at the family camp near Crystal City, Texas. That’s where my mother experienced her tenth birthday in 1944. The camp was about half Japanese, half German, with some Italians and Latin Americans. Alice and the children exited the camps in October, 1944 to restart the business, hoping that the war would end soon and her husband would be released.
The war years that produced the Greatest Generation were also a showcase for some of our worst instincts. People were put into these internment camps not because of what they did, but of that might do.
Bruno Stiller was released a few weeks after Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 1945, as the United Stated turned its attention to the war in the Pacific.
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