Manzanar

My husband and I have been visiting Manzanar for about 8 years. It used to be, you just drove the roads with a little photocopied map in your hand, looking at the former sites of barracks, and ponds, and the hospital. Now there’s a wonderful interpretive center built in the old auditorium. It does a good job of showing the circumstances that led to the the internment of Japanese citizens and residents of California during WWII.

Manzanar was the first of 10 internment camps opened in the U.S.

It’s just good to be reminded what hysteria and fear can drive us to. Even if you think you could justify the relocation on some level, the exhibits in the interpretive center help you to realize that any excuse is tainted by the elements of greed and profit involved in removing people from their homes and businesses.

Today it’s a beautful and reflective place.

http://www.nps.gov/manz/home.htm