![]() ![]() When Sand Island closed, the remaining prisoners were transferred to Honouliuli camp, in central O‘ahu. Wire separated us, and we had no idea what was happening there.” “Honolulu was within eyesight,” recalled Ozaki of the 18 days he spent there. Sand Island Detention Camp, in Honolulu Harbor, was the main hub through which all prisoners passed. Torazo Sugita wrote, “Especially after sunset, the barracks became most demoralizing, just like a prison with ‘lights out’ and doors locked so that no one could step outside.” Inmates were not allowed to have watches, reading material, or even pencils and paper. Personal belongings were confiscated, men and women separated, and strict curfews imposed. Army Internment Camps that were much more prison-like than the mainland concentration camps. It flashed across my mind that they were planning to execute us.ĭetainees were held in jails for a few days, and then transferred to U.S. Dozens of armed soldiers surrounded us, and their guns glittered ominously in the rain. The next morning, December 8, we went through a second search, and even though it was raining, we were ordered to line up in front of the barracks. He was immediately taken to the Kilauea Military Camp. Otokichi Ozaki, a volunteer for the Japanese Consulate in Hilo, was among those promptly picked up by authorities. They were almost all males, mostly leaders of the immigrant community-volunteer agents for the Japanese Consulate, Buddhist and Shinto priests, Japanese language school officials, and newspaper editors. But the FBI had compiled a “custodial detention list” of people to be arrested in case of war with Japan. A full-scale evacuation of all people of Japanese descent wasn’t practical in Hawai‘i-they comprised nearly 40% of the population and over half the skilled labor force. Phone: (808) 847-3511 website: life as an internee-when I had to write “ISN-HJ-1068-CI” on every letter I wrote-it all seems like a dream now.”Īrrests in Hawai‘i began as soon as martial law was declared, hours after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. $22.95 adults $19.95 adults with military ID $19.95 seniors $14.95 ages 4-12 free for ages 3 and younger. The exhibit can be seen on the first floor of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Portico Hall in the Hawaiian Hall Complex, 1525 Bernice St., Honolulu. The exhibit quotes resident Manual Lemes as saying: “If I were asked what was the worst experience I had all through this war, my answer would be: martial Hawaii” DIRECTIONS In 1946, the Supreme Court ruled that the suspension of civilian courts had not been justified by law. Some aspects of martial law were eased in 1943, with civilian government agencies resuming control of many functions and trial by jury resuming for local and federal laws. victory at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, after which a Japanese invasion of Hawaii became unlikely. While most Hawaiians experienced the same feeling of common cause as mainlanders in defeating the Axis threat, opposition to martial law began to grow in the wake of the U.S. ![]() Doors and windows of residences were required to be covered car headlights had to be painted a dark color to dim them. Nights were dark indeed during that period because a “blackout” order required all civilian lights - whether bulbs or flames - to be extinguished at nightfall. One photo shows beachgoers at Waikiki cavorting near a 10-foot-tall barbed-wire fence spanning the length of the beach. Photographs at the exhibit show men digging trenches in downtown Honolulu. Islanders were ordered to construct bomb shelters. and people of Japanese descent had to be in their homes by 8 p.m. Those rights remained suspended for almost three years and were reinstated only after numerous challenges in court.Ī strict curfew barred anyone from being on the streets between 9 p.m. It was believed that the surprise attack was just the prelude to a full-scale invasion of Oahu, and the military and citizenry set about fortifying the island for such an onslaught.īut martial law was also a reaction to the perceived threat by the presence of roughly 150,000 Japanese and Japanese-Americans living in the territory, which represented about 35 percent of the population.ĭespite that suspicion, fewer than 2,000 of them were ultimately sent to internment camps, a ratio far less than were imprisoned in mainland states.įreedom for Hawaiians not placed in camps, however, was severely curtailed by the suspension of constitutional protections in order to “discourage concerted action of any kind,” the military governor said at the time. Poindexter, Hawaii’s territorial governor, declared martial law, and National Guard members took control of the cities. “Homefront Hawaii,” a simple exhibit at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, provides a glimpse into that post-attack period with photos, artifacts and a dose of music from the day by way of a 1940s-era radio. ![]()
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