Home Academic Resources Current Events History Internment Camp Real People Latin American History Media Legislative Efforts Contact Us
World War II US Government-Operated and -Funded Internment and Detention Facilities which Held Persons of German Ancestry

The interactive map below shows the location of many important detention/internment facilities operated by the US Government during World War II which held persons of German ancestry from the US and Latin America. Clicking on a map location will  link you to more detailed information about a given facility or facilities at that location. Below the map is a summary description of the facilities. Many sites across the U.S. not reflected on the interactive map were also used.  Click on the following links for comprehensive maps of Department of Justice and INS/State Dept. sites and U.S. Army sites.

Ellis Island, New York City  -- Temporary Detention Facility Fort Lincoln, Bismarck, North Dakota -- Dept. of Justice Internment Camp Camp Kenedy, Texas -- Dept. of Justice Internment Camp Fort Missoula, Montana -- Dept. of Justice Internment Camp Seagoville, Texas -- Dept. of Justice Internment Camp Crystal City, Texas -- Dept. of Justice Family Internment Camp Camp McCoy, Sparta, Wisconsin -- U.S Army Internment Camp Fort Stanton, New Mexico -- Dept. of Justice Internment Camp Stringtown Prison, Stringtown, Oklahoma -- U.S. Army Internment Camp Camp Forrest, Tullahoma, Tennessee -- U.S. Army Internment Camp Fort Meade, Maryland -- U.S. Army Internment Camp Sand Island and Camp Honouliuli, O’ahu Hawaii -- U.S. Army Internment Camps Cuba, Panama Canal Zone, Nicaragua, Costa Rica , and Colombia Staunton, Virginia --  Ingleside Hotel -- one of several State Dept. detention sites Staunton, Virginia -- Ingleside Hotel -- one of several State Dept. detention sites Angel Island, San Francisco Bay, California -- Temporary Detention Facility Gloucester City, New Jersey -- Temporary Detention Facility Sharp Park Temporary Detention Station Tuna Canyon Temporary Detention Station, Tujunga, California Terminal Island Quarantine and Detention Center, San Pedro, California Algiers Immigration Detention Station, Louisiana 4800 Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois -- Temporary Detention Facility East Boston INS Detention Facility Sullivan Lake, Washington -- One of several forest camp locations Omaha, Nebraska -- Good Shepherd Convent

 


Internment and Detention Facilities Overview

What follows is general information about many of the primary US government internment camps and detention facilities in which persons of German ancestry from the United States and Latin America were interned during World War II. This overview should provide a sense of the different facilities used or funded by the US government to detain and intern enemy aliens and their families, including American-born children: US Department of Justice permanent internment facilities, temporary detention facilities of many types, US Army internment camps (including prisons), Latin American internment camps, US State Department detention facilities and forest work camps. Most internees passed through a series of these facilities depending on their status in the internment/repatriation/deportation process, their gender, whether they were interned with family members and their citizenship status. Additionally, internee transfers resulted as the US government progressively selected and prepared the facilities, and adjusted to the demands of the internee population (i.e., the creation of a family camp).

The primary focus of this website is the US government’s wartime treatment of German Americans and German Latin Americans, however, most internment/detention facilities held internees of German, Italian and Japanese ancestry, together or individually, at different times during the war. Pursuant to the Alien Enemy Act, the alien enemy program targeted all persons of “enemy ancestry” during World War II—German, Japanese and Italian—because such persons were considered disloyal by reason of their ancestry. Research materials, exhibits, monuments, media accounts and other informational materials which indicate otherwise are incorrect and misleading. This overview does not include the ten Wartime Relocation Authority camps in which West Coast Japanese and Japanese Americans were held pursuant to Executive Order 9066 which were not operated pursuant to the Alien Enemy Act.

This overview is not exhaustive, but representative. The narrative is based on research and personal accounts. Pictures have been obtained from a variety of sources, including the National Archives, the National Park Service, researchers and internees to whom we are very grateful.

US Department of Justice Internment Facilities


The government rotated internees through a number of detention facilities while interned, however, the majority eventually landed in one of the eight main Department of Justice internment camps. These camps were administered by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), a division of DOJ. Camps for men were: Ft. Lincoln, Camp Kenedy, Ft. Stanton, Ft. Missoula, Santa Fe, and Kooskia in Idaho (no German internees). Camps for women and families were: Seagoville and Crystal City. Read more about Department of Justice Internment Facilities.

United States Army Internment Camps

In addition to Department of Justice facilities, the US government used U.S. Army posts to hold internees. This was especially true at the beginning of the war, when there were many arrests and no good place to put the internees. At least 18 Army facilities were used to hold German internees, including two internment sites at Sand Island and Honouliuli in Hawaii. One, in Stringtown, Oklahoma, was actually a state prison. Conditions at these locations were generally harsh. The Army administered the camps with frequently unwarranted vigor because they viewed their wards as the enemy. Most camps had double fences and guard towers with armed guards. Of the many camps where Germans were held, several are featured below. Eventually, Army sites had to be used to house Axis prisoners of war, and the internees were moved to INS facilities. Most internees were transferred to multiple sites during their years of internment. This made it hard for their families to communicate with them and the internees wondered constantly what would happen to them next. Read more about US Army Internment Camps

Temporary Detention Facilities 

After arrest by the FBI or another police authority, people were held for periods of several days to months in temporary detention facilities, usually near their homes, but not always. Traditionally, the detention facilities were operated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) on behalf of its parent agency, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Because the INS was responsible for aliens in the US, this was logical, but far from ideal. The facilities were frequently way stations for foreign seamen or others coming to the US. They were not set up to imprison many detainees for months and had to be quickly adapted to perform this service. Other temporary facilities included jails, hospitals, hotels and convents (for women). Jails were particularly harsh because the inmate population was seldom friendly toward the suspected “subversives” in their midst.
After their hearings, the detainees remained incarcerated until DOJ rendered its decision. Once an internment order was issued, the detainees were transferred to more permanent facilities. They were transferred from camp to camp, crisscrossing the US until they arrived at the camp to which they were ultimately assigned. Early in the war, the US struggled to locate, retrofit and staff appropriate internment sites for the thousands it had decided to intern. Read more about Temporary Detention Facilities, including Ellis Island.

Latin American Detention Facilities

As explained in greater detail in the Latin American Program, the US sought to extend its authority over Latin America before and during World War II, to promote both national security and business interests. Except for Argentina, Brazil and Chile, the Latin American countries complied, many for their own reasons. Brief overviews of some of the Latin American camps are included here. Read More about Latin American Detention Facilities

Forest Camps

During World War II, because so many men were gone to fight in the war, German and Italian internees and prisoners of war were sometimes sent to work in the forest. Read more about the Forest Camps

State Department-Related Sites: Hotels and Resorts

The Special War Problems Division of the U.S. State Department ran a small group of their own internment facilities during WW II. "Special war problems" included diplomats and consular corps staff, as well as executives from Axis owned businesses, from both the U.S. and Latin American countries. Read more about the State Department-Related Sites