Japanese Internment:
Once hearing about the attack on the American Naval base at Hawaii on December 7th, 1941, a period of fear and anger against the Japanese Canadian population within Canada spread across British Columbia.
There were around 22,000 Japanese Canadians in British Columbia, a large number of them were first immigrants who were seeking work in Canada in the late 1800’s. They had been the target of of discrimination by a largely white Canadian society.
Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Canadian Pacific Railways fired all it’s Japanese Workers, numerous other Canadian industries followed.
The war had given the people of British Columbia an excuse to act in a negative manner towards the Japanese population.
On January 14, 1942, a 100 mile wide strip of land, along the coast was designated a ‘protected area’ by the federal government. All male Canadians between the ages of 18 and 45 were removed, and taken to camps in the interior. On March 4, 1942, all people of the Japanese racial origin were told to leave the ‘protected area’.
What Was Hastings Park Clearing Station?
Who was the Japanese Liaison Committee?
Numerous Japanese Canadians took their anger out on the Japanese Liaison Committee.
The Japanese Liaison Committee were a group of three Issei, first generation Japanese immigrants, appointed by the British Columbia Security Commission (BCSC) to act as a liaison between the Canadian government and the Japanese Community.
The members this committee included: Etsuji Morri; Arthur Nishiguchi, a New Westminster merchant and veteran of the Canadian Army from the First World War; and Ippio Nishio, a Vancouver merchant who was also a representative of the Spanish consul, the "protecting power" under the Geneva Convention for Japanese aliens in Canada.
Why were the Spanish Vice-Consuls, Schwartz and F.P. Bernard, helping advocate for the internees?
The first three treaties of the Geneva Convention established humanitarian standards regarding the protection of wartime prisoners and civilians under international law. As a result of the "Geneva Convention, Spanish vice-consuls were charged with the task of protecting the human rights of Japanese aliens in Canada" (Sunahara). The Spanish Vice-Consuls acted on "behalf of Japan as a neutral country's representative" (Nabata). Schwartz referred to himself as the "Protecting Power Of All Japanese Nationals" (File 1.1, Folder A1).
Where Was The TASHME Internment Camp?
The TASHME internment camp had a population of 2636. It was located in the interior of British Columbia. It was known to be the most isolated out of all the internment camps. There was no village, street corners or shops, the only contact with the hakujins (occidentals) were the Security Commission employees, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the church workers ministering to the Tashme residents. Its solitary store was Commission operated where only coupons instead of cash were legal tender. Of the six established camps under the Security Commission, Tashme was viewed as the best structured in terms of organization, chiefly because of its youth program.Most of the men worked at a sawmil or on construction of the highway. At the end of the war, residents were allowed to leave and the community was dismantled in 1946.
Once hearing about the attack on the American Naval base at Hawaii on December 7th, 1941, a period of fear and anger against the Japanese Canadian population within Canada spread across British Columbia.
There were around 22,000 Japanese Canadians in British Columbia, a large number of them were first immigrants who were seeking work in Canada in the late 1800’s. They had been the target of of discrimination by a largely white Canadian society.
Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Canadian Pacific Railways fired all it’s Japanese Workers, numerous other Canadian industries followed.
The war had given the people of British Columbia an excuse to act in a negative manner towards the Japanese population.
On January 14, 1942, a 100 mile wide strip of land, along the coast was designated a ‘protected area’ by the federal government. All male Canadians between the ages of 18 and 45 were removed, and taken to camps in the interior. On March 4, 1942, all people of the Japanese racial origin were told to leave the ‘protected area’.
What Was Hastings Park Clearing Station?
- Hastings Park was the clearing station from where a large number of the Japanese population were herded and shipped off to - they would be transferred to prisoner-of-war camps/ internment camps in the Interior of British Columbia.
- Numerous individuals and families were forced to register here.
- In Hastings Park, they lived in livestock barns and slept in bunk beds with straw mattresses.
- On July 3rd 1942, the population at at the clearing station was around 2884 people.
Who was the Japanese Liaison Committee?
Numerous Japanese Canadians took their anger out on the Japanese Liaison Committee.
The Japanese Liaison Committee were a group of three Issei, first generation Japanese immigrants, appointed by the British Columbia Security Commission (BCSC) to act as a liaison between the Canadian government and the Japanese Community.
The members this committee included: Etsuji Morri; Arthur Nishiguchi, a New Westminster merchant and veteran of the Canadian Army from the First World War; and Ippio Nishio, a Vancouver merchant who was also a representative of the Spanish consul, the "protecting power" under the Geneva Convention for Japanese aliens in Canada.
Why were the Spanish Vice-Consuls, Schwartz and F.P. Bernard, helping advocate for the internees?
The first three treaties of the Geneva Convention established humanitarian standards regarding the protection of wartime prisoners and civilians under international law. As a result of the "Geneva Convention, Spanish vice-consuls were charged with the task of protecting the human rights of Japanese aliens in Canada" (Sunahara). The Spanish Vice-Consuls acted on "behalf of Japan as a neutral country's representative" (Nabata). Schwartz referred to himself as the "Protecting Power Of All Japanese Nationals" (File 1.1, Folder A1).
Where Was The TASHME Internment Camp?
The TASHME internment camp had a population of 2636. It was located in the interior of British Columbia. It was known to be the most isolated out of all the internment camps. There was no village, street corners or shops, the only contact with the hakujins (occidentals) were the Security Commission employees, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the church workers ministering to the Tashme residents. Its solitary store was Commission operated where only coupons instead of cash were legal tender. Of the six established camps under the Security Commission, Tashme was viewed as the best structured in terms of organization, chiefly because of its youth program.Most of the men worked at a sawmil or on construction of the highway. At the end of the war, residents were allowed to leave and the community was dismantled in 1946.
Learn More
Http://Www.Japanesecanadianhistory.Ca/Chapter3.Html
Http://Knowbc.Com/Ebc/Books/Encyclopedia-Of-BC/T/Tashme
Http://Www.Discovernikkei.Org/En/Nikkeialbum/Items/25/
Http://Www.Japanesecanadianhistory.Ca/Chapter3.Html
Http://Knowbc.Com/Ebc/Books/Encyclopedia-Of-BC/T/Tashme
Http://Www.Discovernikkei.Org/En/Nikkeialbum/Items/25/