#dayofremembrance

Day of Remembrance, Reconciliation, and Victory over Nazism in the World War II of 1939–1945

On Feb. 19, 1942—75 years ago today—U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, granting the secretary of war and his commanders the authority “to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary of War or the appropriate Military Commander may impose in his discretion.” Though it did not explicitly refer to specific groups, it was used to legally force over 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry from their homes in the U.S. and incarcerate them in fenced and guarded camps.

Pictured here is a detail of Information Bulletin No. 1, published in Feb. 1942, by the Japanese-American Relations Committee of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Friends Service Committee.  It reads:

OF “HUMAN INTEREST”

Said a young Japanese-American (Nisei) truck farmer in a committee meeting the other day:

“These United States of ours are not just only the United States of white Americans and descendants of white Americans.  They are made up of many different nationalities, races and religious groups.

“Many different elements go into the making of steel -- some to harden and some to temper it, but all to solidify and make it just right.

“Ukraine is once again forced to defend its freedom and the security of all Europe against Russian aggression. The memory of World War II should serve as a call for responsibility and determination to defend a just and lasting peace.” ~ @mfa_ukraine 🇺🇦💙💛🇺🇦

#Repost @mfa_ukraine with @use.repost_ . . . On this Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II, we honour millions of people whose lives were taken by this war, as well as those who defended the world from Nazism.

World War II became one of the most terrible tragedies in human history. Millions of Ukrainians served in various armies of the anti-Hitler coalition and took part in underground resistance, as our land became the site of major battles and immense human suffering. World War II took the lives of more than 8 million Ukrainians.

The year 1945 did not bring lasting peace to Ukraine – in another totalitarian regime, the Soviet Union, repression continued. Today, Ukraine is once again forced to defend its freedom and the security of all Europe against Russian aggression.

The memory of World War II should serve as a call for responsibility and determination to defend a just and lasting peace.