Words to Live By
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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We must remember the mistakes of society and honor those that endure the disruption and humiliation of those mistakes.
Topaz Barracks
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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On a member excursion of the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters Jimmy Miklavcic and I visited the Topaz Internment site in Delta, Utah. One participant attending the excursion was an actual internee and remembered living in Topaz as a little girl. The Great Basin Museum in Delta, Utah has in the yard a barrack and items from the actual site, which is located 16 miles outside of town.
Topaz Site Map
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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The mile-square camp begins at the corner of 10000 West and 4500 North, with a monument located at 10750 West and 4500 North.
The Way We Now Live
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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This basic room was typical of the living conditions for the internees. The barracks were not insulated in any way and the outside of the building was covered in tarpaper, offering little protection from the bitterly cold Utah winters.
Mother's Dishes
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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Internees were able to bring some items from their homes, such as these dishes, flatware and kitchen utensils.
Handmade
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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A humble shrine is placed by the barrack’s entrance...
Handmade Close-up
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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...constructed with found materials at the site and decorated with native Utah stones.
Open Space
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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The 16-mile drive out to the site takes much longer then one expects. The road goes through farmland and emerges into this desolate area.
After the camp closed the government sold the barracks to people who turned them into houses and farm buildings. (Reference
Topaz Museum) As a result, the actual historical site is vast with no apparent sign of the internment camp.
Barbed
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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It must have indescribable to experience a complete loss of control over your life. To have been uprooted from the American west coast, traveling for days not knowing where you are being taken. Ending up in a completely foreign place, your new home, maybe forever, this dry, vast desert environment.
Monument
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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There is a monument to the 11,212 men, women and children of Japanese ancestry who were forcibly resettled after Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The Topaz site opened September 11, 1942 and closed October 31, 1945.
Concrete Memories
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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Monument:
Over 120,000 Japanese-Americans, two thirds of whom are U.S. citizens, are uprooted from their west coast homes and incarcerated by their own government. It is 1942, wartime hysteria is at a peak. They are imprisoned in ten inland concentration camps where they remain behind barbed wire, under suspicion and armed guards for up to 3 ½ years. Topaz is one of the ten camps. Without hearings or trials, this act of injustice is based solely on the color of their skin and the country of their origin. America’s fear and distrust of these citizens–precipitated by Japan’s attack upon Pearl Harbor–is placated. Lost within this rush to judgment is the denial of constitutional rights, major losses of personal property and the labeling of its own citizens as enemy. Ironically, though this mass incarceration is spearheaded by thoughts of disloyalty, not a single case of espionage against the U.S. is ever discovered. Indeed, the 442nd RCT and 100th Battalion, composed entirely of young Japanese-American boys (many of whom volunteer from Internment camps), suffer major war causalities and go on to become the U.S. Army’s most highly-decorated combat unit in its history. Topaz is closed in October of 1945. The memory of Topaz remains a tribute to a people whose faith and loyalty was steadfast–while America’s had faltered.
Names of the Fallen
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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“All Gave Some ~ Some Gave All”
442ND REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM, 100TH INFANTRY BATTALION, MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE (MIS)
Formed during WWII, these three US Military units were comprised of Japanese-American young men from the US mainland, Hawaii and from ten internment camps such as Topaz. Despite heated racial attitudes, many young men volunteered to show their loyalty to their country. Their valor and fighting spirit became known throughout the US military. The rescue of the Lost Battalion in France typified their bravery – in fierce combat they suffered huge casualties (199 KIA or missing; hundreds wounded in action) while rescuing 211 men of the Texas Battalion. During the war they received over 16,000 decorations to become the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in US military history. However, only a single Congressional Medal of Honor was given due to racial overtones. This was corrected in 2000 when President Clinton upgraded 20 Distinguished Service Cross Medals to Congressional Medal of Honor awards to 20 Japanese-American veterans, many of whom were in their 80s. Some were given posthumously.
A Sign
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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The Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters group traveled into the site to specific areas where barrack foundations and some items such as broken glass, cans, wood and nails remained. Visitors are encouraged to leave everything as it is and to resist the temptation to take small mementos of artifacts lying on the ground.
Foundation
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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Following American entry into World War II, approximately 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent and Japanese-born residents of the West Coast of the United States were forced to leave their homes in California, Oregon and Washington as a result of Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin Roosevelt. About 10,000 left the off-limits area during the "voluntary evacuation" period, and avoided internment.
Wikipedia
Where Weeds Grow
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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The remaining 110,000 were soon removed from their homes by Army and National Guard troops. First housed in places such as racetrack stables, eventually they were moved to various camps, hundreds or even thousands of miles from home.
Wikipedia
Scraps
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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Topaz was the primary internment site in the state of Utah. A smaller camp existed briefly at Dalton Wells, a few miles north of Moab, which was used to isolate a few men considered to be troublemakers prior to their being sent to Leupp, Arizona. A site at Antelope Springs, in the mountains west of Topaz, was used as a recreation area by the residents and staff of Topaz.
Wikipedia
Bleached Remainders
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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Topaz was originally known as the Central Utah Relocation Center, but this name was abandoned when administrators realized that the acronym was naturally pronounced "Curse."
Wikipedia
Artifacts
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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The camp was then briefly named for the closest settlement, until nearby Mormon residents (with their own heritage of forced relocation) demanded that their town name not be associated with a "prison for the innocent." The final name, Topaz, came from a mountain, which overlooks the camp from 9 miles (14.5 km) away.
Wikipedia
Rusting Drain
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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Topaz was opened September 11, 1942, and eventually became the fifth-largest city in Utah, with over 9,000 internees and staff, and covering approximately 31 square miles (80.3 km) (mostly used for agriculture). It was closed on October 31, 1945.
Wikipedia
Lone Brick Resting on Cracked Earth
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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Most of the internees lived in a central living area, which covered approximately one-mile square.
Wikipedia
Rusted Remains
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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In this seemingly empty place there are many reminders that it was once inhabited, such as this rusting bucket.
Disappearing Foundation
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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Nature reclaims what humans build no matter the circumstances. An abandoned place that many want forgotten.
Landscape of Internment
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by ELIZABETH MIKLAVCIC
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Due to the determined and dedicated work of some people in Delta, Utah who feel it is vital not to forget what happened here, a museum is in the process of being built on this historical site. For further information please visit the
Topaz Museum website.
