Transcript File - Ms. Neals` Classroom

Mind’s On - Discuss
• On a lined piece of paper, write down 3
things you know about how the
Holocaust happened.
Be prepared to share one with the class! Try to avoid the
very obvious so we all do not come up with the same 3
points!
Discussion - Give an example of racism
during WWII.
Japanese Canadian
Internment Camps
Background
• At the start of World War II, approximately 23,000
people of Japanese descent lived in Canada, mostly in
British Columbia.
• 75% held Canadian citizenship and over 13,000 were
Japanese-Canadians (they were born in Canada).
• Most Japanese-Canadians were hard workers, owned
land, and paid taxes.
Pearl Harbour
• Japan attacks Pearl
Harbour (Hawaii)
on Dec. 7 1941in a
surprise attack
• The damage was
extensive and took
out most of the US
force stationed
there
• This draws the US
into WW2
Canada’s Response
• Canada declared war on Japan shortly after
• The Japanese were unfairly suspected of being spies as
many were fisherman
• The property of the Japanese-Canadians (land, business
etc.) were confiscated by the government and sold and
the proceeds were used to pay for their internment
Anti Japanese
Propaganda
Internment Camps
• The War Measures Act is
once again brought in,
stripping citizens of their
rights to justify
internment
• By the end of 1942 more
than 22,000 men, women,
and children of Japanese
ancestry were taken to the
camps
• Conditions were poor, men were forced into labour
• Those unwilling to live in internment camps faced
the possibility of deportation to Japan
After the Internment Camps
• Japanese-Canadians who remained in Canada were
not allowed to return to the BC coast until 1949
• Their homes and property was not returned
• It was not until 1988 that a formal apology came
from Canada’s government
• The Canadian government also provided
compensation, including $21,000 for survivors and
restatement of their citizenship
David Suzuki Remembers
 https://www.nfb.ca/film/force-of-nature-the-davidsuzuki/clip/force_of_nature_david_suzuki_clip_1
Examine these two accounts
“I think the Japanese here should be
treated exactly as our people are treated
in Japan – they should be interned. It is
definitely a practicable scheme. Others
can do it, why can’t we…? In the East
they don’t understand our problem here;
they’ve never had it themselves.” Birt
Showler, Vancouver Daily Province,
1942.
“I was in that camp for four years. When
it got cold the temperature went down to
as much as 60 below. The buildings stood
on flat land beside a lake. We lived in
huts with no insulation. Even if we had
the stove burning the inside of the
windows would all be frosted up and
white.” Hideo Kukubo, Vancouver: The
Japanese Canadian Centennial Project,
1978).
Historical Reflection
Do you think the actions of nonJapanese Canadians were justified?
In your notebooks, provide 3 points for either
yes or no.