Internment

I have been avoiding this topic for one reason: it is a can of worms. Once I start dealing with the internment of Japanese and Europeans in Hawaii, it could go on forever. I'm going to post them at intervals so as not to overwhelm you. The issue of internment and Japanese is incredibly complex in Hawaii. I'm not sure where to start. So, here we go step-by-step.

Within one week of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the FBI detained 370 Japanese, 98 German and 14 Italians in Hawaii. An overwhelming majority of the Japanese detainees were men. That wasn't the case with the European; many were women.

During the course of the war 1441 persons of Japanese ancestry were picked up for internment in Hawaii. This was .9%. (Please note, it's not 9%, it is .9%)of the 160,000 Japanese living in Hawaii.

The fact that Europeans were interned in Hawaii (as on the Mainland) is a surprise to many people, even people of Italian, German and Austrian descent. If you take a look at it per capita, a many more Europeans were interned in Hawaii than Japanese.

As a bit of a refresher, you may want to take a look at the post on the list General Patton drew up for the seizure of Japanese. I wasn't able to cross the names on that list with the list of people who were actually picked up during the war. Maybe some fine history graduate student could do that.

PHOTO: The Immigration Station located on Ala Moana Boulevard was part of Fort Armstrong during the war. It was the first place that detainees were taken on December 7, 1941. Once the Sand Island camp opened, Fort Armstrong was closed down as an internment location.

Naomi Benyas, Woman of the Press

Naomi Benyas was a reporter with the Honolulu Advertiser. She mostly did music and theatre reviews, and sometimes was assigned to interview celebrities on "Boat Days," among them was Clare Booth Luce, Bette Davis and Ernest Hemingway.

According to Chaplin (PRESSTIME IN HAWAII), Benyas was good reporter. She was the daughter of a prominent Honolulu physician and an accomplished pianist. OK, since the election of Barack Obama, I have to mention that she, too, is a Punahou graduate. (Benyas went on to University of California, Berkeley).

I've included her here because two days after the attack, Benyas wrote the following column which was published on December 10, 1941. All during the war she wrote patriotic pieces from a woman's perspective.

THIS REALM OF OURS by Naomi Benyas
So we’re at war, we’re seeing death and bloodshed and evacuations and tears of those who are suffering and the tears of those who are left behind. We’re having food rationed and we’re walking instead of riding. Movies are out and parties, and night time brings complete darkness. We’re glued to the radios, memorizing the papers, but cheerfully reassuring one another.

We’re pshawing wild rumors and housing evacuees and giving blood and helping in first aid work. We’re keeping business going “as usual” obeying the safety rules outlined, smiling instead of complaining.

We’re closer than ever to our neighbors, to the man on the street, keeping away from the telephone and discussions with Mary or Jack or Mrs. Jones, staying off the street, indulging in no panic. We’re waving encouragement to our planes even though they can’t see us, waving to the boys in uniform who are protecting us, volunteering for every type of service and helping in every way we can.

We’re civilian officers, soothing nervous feelings or keeping order, Red Cross assistants rolling bandages, ROTC boys standing guard, truck drivers toting supplies, defense workers keeping the projects going.

We’re navy and army wives with our chins and spirits up, we’re doctors and nurses giving of time and energy on a 24-hour service, we’re sleeping on floors of our business in “emergency” business, we’re remaining calm and cooperating with the military regulations.

We’re evacuees without a whimper or finding room for the evacuees, we’re staring at damage and confident that it’ll be avenged, we’re taking no chance for our safety and that of others.

We’re going on with our Christmas shopping worrying more about who has a cigarette than about a bomb, keeping up with the continued story, singing in the shower. If we’re women, we’re wishing we were men so we could be of still more service, but man or woman, we’re doing everything in our power to help the United States win the war and to help keep those spirits up, we’re ready, willing and able. We’re Americans.
Honolulu Advertiser, December 10, 1941.

PHOTOS: All photos from Hawaii War Records Depository.