Japanese American Shop Owner Hoped to Avoid Internment in 1942

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1942 approximately 122,000  men, women, and children of Japanese heritage were moved to “assembly centers.” They were then evacuated to and confined in isolated, fenced, and guarded “relocation centers,” also known as “internment camps.”  Nearly 70,000 of the evacuees were American citizens. 

A Japanese American shop owner in Oakland, California placed a sign (image above) on his business hoping to avoid internment.

Read more: Vintage Everyday