“So much we left behind, but the most valuable thing I lost was my freedom.”

Three pictures of Japanese internment camps in WW II.

Picture 1: This beautiful Japanese American girl had been ordered by the federal government to leave Oakland to be interned at a camp. Later, she wrote: “So much we left behind, but the most valuable thing I lost was my freedom.”

Picture 2: This is a travel permit to “allow” a Japanese American to travel on a specific day from Ellensburg to Yakima.

Picture 3: “Many thanks for your patronage. Hope to serve you in the near future. God be with you till we meet again. Mr. and Mrs. K. Isarai.”

The desert of eastern Oregon was a site of a major “relocation camp” for Japanese Americans in WW II. Janet and I visited a simple but powerful museum in Ontario, Oregon (Four Rivers Cultural Center). We saw heartbreaking images— many that brought to mind two things: (1) America's current downward spiral of intolerance, the mindset that leads to “camps” for outcast groups, and (2) the history of my family (and virtually all European Jews) in Nyirmada, Hungary.

To friends of ProfLERoy, thank you for the many small ways you speak out against hate. Small acts are crucial; silence is unacceptable. This is not a Democratic or Republican issue-- it is human decency.