Barbed-Wire Fence 2c

“Questions and Answers for Evacuees: Information Regarding the Relocation Program” pamphlet, 1942, Japanese American National Museum, Gift of Norio Mitsuoka (91.19.6B)

This object is part of the story , which is about Security.

Barbed-Wire Fence, Security, Topaz

This is part of a pamphlet the War Relocation Authority distributed to Japanese Americans as it was preparing to remove them from their homes. As you read the definitions, pay close attention to word choice, noting phrases such as “convenient gathering point”; “opportunity for orderly, planned movement”; and “pioneer community with basic housing and protective services provided by the Federal Government.”

  • What would you say is the purpose of this pamphlet?
  • What message and/or feeling is it trying to convey?
  • What is the tone of this pamphlet?

Knowing what we now know about America’s concentration camps:

  • Do you think this pamphlet accurately conveys to Japanese Americans what they should expect upon being removed from their homes and incarcerated?
  • Do you think this pamphlet made Japanese Americans feel more comfortable about what they were experiencing?
  • Would you replace any words in the pamphlet with more accurate terminology? What words would you replace and what would you replace them with?