Crystal City, Texas was home to an internment (concentration) camp for people of German, Italian, and Japanese descent that resided in the United Stated during the period of 1943-1948. The camp held, at maximum, almost 3,400 people. Many of those incarcerated were native-born United States citizens (if this is ringing some bells, it should be). If there is any measure of peace to be taken from this disgraceful action, it is that they were housed and fed with basic amenities unlike concentration camp prisoners in Europe and other prisoners of war held by Axis powers. This entire episode of United States history is gross.

This book is so relevant in our current period. People who were born and raised here in the United States are often fed a HIGHLY stylized, pretty version of how the United States is always there, a champion of the disenfranchised and dreamer. Unfortunately, in our modern era we are repeating some of the nastiness of our past, despite the efforts of some of us who retain some humanity and an education. Deportations happened to the Indigenous population, then to the Japanese, German, and Italians. Today, deportations are happening again. It is so important to not let history like this lay by the wayside for the generations that we are raising now, and it is equally important to stop supporting regimes that love committing crimes against humanity and other war crimes.

This book was wonderfully researched and well written, and I highly recommend it. If you are interested in this topic further, there is a monument to the internees on this site that you can view. The site was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 2014, and archeological investigations have been underway. There are also several books out there written by children who were interned here, as well as other accounts from adults from the time.