World War II related internment and expulsion of Germans in the Americas
Encyclopedia
By the outbreak of World War II, the Nazi party's foreign countries organization (NSDAP/AO
) sought to organize German citizens abroad, and managed to enroll between 3% and 9% of the German citizens in the American countries. Though disappointed by low participation, NSDAP/AO by public activities of uniformed members managed to be perceived more influential than it actually was. False American media reports also contributed to this public misperception of Germans in the Americas.
After Pearl Harbor, the US' FBI drafted a list of Germans in fifteen Latin America
n states it suspected of subversive activities and demanded their eviction to the US for detention. From these countries, 4,058 Germans were expelled accordingly. Among them were 10% to 15% Nazi party members, including some dozen NSDAP/AO recruiters and eight people suspected of espionage. Also among them were 81 Jewish Germans who had just fled persecution in Nazi Germany before. The bulk were ordinary Germans, who were residents in these states for years or decades. Some were expelled because corrupt Latin American officials took the opportunity to seize their property, or ordinary Latin Americans were after the financial reward for denounciation paid by the US intelligence. Argentina
, Brazil
, Chile
and Mexico
did not participate in the US expulsion program. Besides the Germans evicted to the US, national internment camps for Axis citizens were set up in Brazil
, Colombia
, Costa Rica
, Cuba
, Curaçao
, the Dominican Republic
, Mexico
, Nicaragua
and Venezuela
, as well as in the Panama Canal Zone
. The US internment camps to which Germans from Latin America were directed were in Texas
(camps Crystal City, Kennedy, Seagoville), Florida
(Camp Blanding
), Oklahoma
(Stringtown), North Dakota
(Fort Lincoln), Tennessee
(Camp Forrest
) and other sites.
In the US, there were 1,237,000 persons of German birth in 1940, and 5 million persons with both parents born in Germany, and 6 million persons with at least one parent born in Germany. The size and resulting political and economical potential of German Americans spared them from sharing the experiences of Japanese Americans, who as a group were expelled and detained. Rather, Germans and German Americans in the US were detained and evicted from coastal areas on an individual basis - mass expulsion from the East or West coast areas for reasons of military security were considered by the War Department, but not executed. A total of 11,507 people of German ancestry were interned during the war, making up for 36.1% of the total internments following the US Justice Department's Enemy Alien Control Program. Internments started with the detention of 1,260 Germans shortly after Pearl Harbor
. Of the 254 persons evicted from coastal areas, the majority were German.
NSDAP/AO
The NSDAP/AO was the Foreign Organization branch of the National Socialist German Workers Party . AO is the abbreviation of the German compound word Auslands-Organisation...
) sought to organize German citizens abroad, and managed to enroll between 3% and 9% of the German citizens in the American countries. Though disappointed by low participation, NSDAP/AO by public activities of uniformed members managed to be perceived more influential than it actually was. False American media reports also contributed to this public misperception of Germans in the Americas.
After Pearl Harbor, the US' FBI drafted a list of Germans in fifteen Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n states it suspected of subversive activities and demanded their eviction to the US for detention. From these countries, 4,058 Germans were expelled accordingly. Among them were 10% to 15% Nazi party members, including some dozen NSDAP/AO recruiters and eight people suspected of espionage. Also among them were 81 Jewish Germans who had just fled persecution in Nazi Germany before. The bulk were ordinary Germans, who were residents in these states for years or decades. Some were expelled because corrupt Latin American officials took the opportunity to seize their property, or ordinary Latin Americans were after the financial reward for denounciation paid by the US intelligence. Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
did not participate in the US expulsion program. Besides the Germans evicted to the US, national internment camps for Axis citizens were set up in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, as well as in the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
. The US internment camps to which Germans from Latin America were directed were in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(camps Crystal City, Kennedy, Seagoville), Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
(Camp Blanding
Camp Blanding
Camp Blanding Joint Training Center is the primary military reservation and training base for the Florida National Guard, both the Florida Army National Guard and certain non-flying activities of the Florida Air National Guard. The installation is located in Clay County, Florida near the city of...
), Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
(Stringtown), North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
(Fort Lincoln), Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
(Camp Forrest
Camp Forrest
Camp Forrest, located in Tullahoma, Tennessee, was one of the U.S. Army's largest training bases during World War II. It was an active Army post between 1941 and 1946.-History:...
) and other sites.
In the US, there were 1,237,000 persons of German birth in 1940, and 5 million persons with both parents born in Germany, and 6 million persons with at least one parent born in Germany. The size and resulting political and economical potential of German Americans spared them from sharing the experiences of Japanese Americans, who as a group were expelled and detained. Rather, Germans and German Americans in the US were detained and evicted from coastal areas on an individual basis - mass expulsion from the East or West coast areas for reasons of military security were considered by the War Department, but not executed. A total of 11,507 people of German ancestry were interned during the war, making up for 36.1% of the total internments following the US Justice Department's Enemy Alien Control Program. Internments started with the detention of 1,260 Germans shortly after Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
. Of the 254 persons evicted from coastal areas, the majority were German.