Memorial built by concentration camp inmates to commemorate those who died in the camp, Manzanar, Inyo County, 2023.
Just finished reading Life After Manzanar, a book following some of the various inmates of the concentration camp after they were released. In a small part it is "feel good," as some, notably the younger inmates, went on to lead fulfilling and productive lives. Others, especially the older inmates, had their lives destroyed, not a few of them dying not long after their release. Most of the incarcerated were long-term residents in the places where they had been arrested although almost none had criminal records, and many were citizens. On release, some went back to hostile, or at best indifferent, communities where they had once lived. Others staked out lives in new places. Wherever they went after 1945, their human and legal rights had been violated, all of the former inmates had been traumatized, and they had been robbed of a significant part of their lives. They had only one characteristic in common, all were members of a despised ethinic group. It is a grim tale but one which proves "it can happen here."
