Some people just "Vanished"!

It’s hard to believe that innocent citizens could be swept from their homes in the middle of the night and tossed in jail…..then transferred to a “detention camp” and held for months – even years – as “prisoners of war.” But it happened during World War II all across the United States.

The Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 had been enacted 140 years earlier, at the end of the American Revolution. It was later modified and only its “Alien Enemies” provision remained. But after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, heightened fear broke out across the United States, and there was great suspicion that aliens – even people who just “looked” to be an aliens – might be enemy spies or even saboteurs.

Because of their obvious difference in physical appearance, oriental persons were easy targets. It’s estimated that more than 120,000 Japanese-Americans were interned under the Alien Enemies Act during World War II. Most of the internees, probably about 80 percent, were U.S. citizens.

Less well known is the fact that between 11,000 to 15,000 German-Americans were whisked off to detention camps during World War II. Their story has been little known, but thanks to an exhibit aboard a reconditioned bus called the BUS-eum, we’re finally getting a glimpse of this frightening era in American history. Entitled Vanished, the exhibit uses posters, photographs, and old films to help tell the story. German-Americans were interned in camps all across the country. The nearest to our part of the world was Camp Lincoln, located near Bismarck, North Dakota.

I first learned of the exhibit earlier this week, while it was traversing the state. Alas, before the bus could make it to Spearfish, a cracked engine cylinder put the vehicle out of business. Fortunately, the exhibit was shipped on to Black Hills State University, where it was exhibited for a few hours today in the Student Center.

The Director of the exhibit (and bus driver) is Iowan Michael Luick-Thrams, whose passion for the subject is obvious. He told our small assemblage at BHSU, that the Bus-eum has visited 1,015 communities across the country and has been seen by more than 100,000 people.

Vanished tells another sad but important story in the history of our country. While tens of thousands of internees of World War II thought it couldn’t happen to them, we are left wondering: could such a thing happen today?

A good question….and this exhibit helps us better understand this chapter of U. S. history. If you’re interested in learning more, I’d recommend visiting the Vanished web site. An even better site, in my opinion, is that of the German-American Internee Coalition. To get to that web site, just click on GAIC.

As a grandchild of German-Russian immigrants, I appreciate the passion brought to this project, and I support efforts to learn more and better understand the circumstances surrounding these internments. Knowing our history will always stand us in good stead.

And while it is appropriate for the GAIC to try to get the U.S. government to “review and acknowledge” the violation of civil rights perpetrated on Japanese-Americans, German-Americans, and others, let’s hope it stops there. Document this experience. Understand it. Never forget it. But avoid the pervasive victimization mentality that cloaks much of our country and stop short of seeking reparations.

Better that we focus our vigilance upon open government and fight to ensure that civil rights of all citizens are doggedly protected. We should learn from the past, act in the present, and focus on the future.

Free "Vanished" Exhibit at BHSU

We’re a bit late in posting this item, but it appears to be well worth pursuing for people who live in the northern Black Hills.

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Most of us are aware that many Japanese-Americans were interned in camps across the country during World War II.

Less well known is that fact that the U.S. Government interned some 15,000 German-American civilians, including citizens and 4,058 Latin-American Germans brought here and later exchanged for Nazi-held American citizens. Perhaps the least known chapter of American WWII history, its legacy has implications for today. Housed in a school bus converted into a mobile museum with its own 21-seat theater, VANISHED illustrates this unknown story through narrative texts, artifacts and multi-media.

The exhibit will be in Spearfish – near the Black Hills State University Student Center, I believe – from 10 a.m. to 1p.m., tomorrow (Thursday, April 24th). It’s open to the public free of charge.

Seth Bullock - Myths Debunked

The late pioneer lawman Seth Bullock came alive for an hour or so the other night (3/4/08) – resuscitated in the graphic narratives of historian David Wolff. It was the latest in an outstanding series of speakers lined up by the Spearfish Area Historical Society.

Wolff, an Associate Professor of History at Black Hills State University, spoke to a full house of society members gathered at the Spearfish Senior Citizen’s Center.

Using a wide range of little-known facts about Bullock, Wolff focused on just the first year or two after Seth arrived in Deadwood from Montana in 1876. Bullock had a diversified and colorful career as a miner, politician, merchant, rancher, lawman, and forest supervisor. He was an interesting character, but his story has often been needlessly embellished and exaggerated over the years. Wolff debunked several myths, including Bullock’s role as a lawman (he never killed anyone) and his role in creating Belle Fourche (he never lived there). Read more about Seth Bullock as assembled by the Adams Museum and House in Deadwood, a marvelous resource for old west history.

Wolff was asked about the Seth Bullock ghost that supposedly haunts the Bullock Hotel in Deadwood.

“The real story of the hotel,” said Wolff, “is that Bullock had very little to do with it…he started building a hotel and got his name on the building, and he was done. So if there’s a ghost in there, he’s haunting from his hardware days or his sheriff days. Bullock never ran a hotel.”

Wolff is writing a book about Bullock, whom he described as “a man nobody really liked.” He pointed out that Bullock was appointed to his 9 ½ months as Sheriff and was never elected to anything. In fact, he was defeated twice in back-to-back elections for Sheriff of Deadwood.

After his talk, Wolff visited with many of the folks who had attended the meeting and discussed other aspects of Bullock’s life. We have a few photographs. He expressed a willingness to return next year to talk about other facets of the legendary lawman's life.

Next month, writer Paul Higbee will share some of his research into the creation of Black Hills State University and one of its early presidents, Lafayette Cook. That presentation will be in the Senior Citizen’s Center at 7:30 p.m., Monday, April 1st – no fooling!