This post deals with the forced movement of more than 21,000 Japanese Canadians during World War II showing covers related to the relocation.
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| Tashme Internment Camp, April 30, 1943 |
In 1942, shortly after Canada's declaration of war against Japan, Japanese-Canadians living 100 miles inland from the West Coast were removed by government order. The order affected more than 21,000 Japanese Canadians. “Military necessity” was
used as a justification for their mass removal and incarceration despite the
fact that senior members of Canada’s military and the RCMP
had opposed the
action, arguing that Japanese Canadians posed no threat to security.
A. Internment Projects Outside the Protected Area
1. Road Camp Projects
Between March and June, 1942, 2000 men were separated from their families and
sent to road camps road. By October 1942 many were allowed to join families in the
interior internment camps
2. Internment Camps
Most of the Japanese Canadians,
12,000, were sent to internment camps located in the isolated British Columbia interior. Sites included Greenwood, Sandon, Slocan, New Denver, Tashme, Kaslo.
3. Self-Supporting Projects
About 1000 internees chose to go to less restrictive “self supporting
projects”. They were required to to pay for their transportation, housing materials
and living expenses but the families were able to stay together.
4. Prisoner of War Camps
About 700 men were interned in Prisoner of War camps located at Petawawa and Angler, Ontario.
B. Sugar Beet Farms
Beet growers in Alberta and Manitoba made arrangements with the B.C. government to obtain Japanese workers to solve their labour shortage. About 4000 internees opted for the farms but found living conditions were poor, medical facilities were inadequate and the pay minimal. The Japanese were not allowed to leave the farm to find other employment.
End of War
As the war was coming to an end, the federal government decided to remove all Japanese Canadians from British Columbia who were forced to chose between deportation to Japan after the war or moving east
of the Rockies immediately. The deportations stopped due to public protest but 4,000 Japanese had left Canada after the war. On April 1, 1949, the last of the
wartime restrictions were lifted allowing Japanese Canadians to travel
freely and return to the West Coast.
In September 1988, the Government of Canada formally apologized in the House
of Commons and offered compensation for wrongful incarceration, seizure of
property and the disenfranchisement of Japanese Canadians during WW II.
Japanese Relocation Covers
Minto Mine to Kaslo
The cover below was sent from the "Self-supporting" project of Minto Mine to the Internment Camp at Kaslo, November 17, 1944. The letter was censored and received at Kaslo on December 2, 1944.
Minto Mine
Minto City (also called Minto Mine) was established in 1934 as a townsite for miners at the nearby Minto Gold mine. The mine closed in 1942 but Minto City became a "self-supporting" project.
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| Minto Mine, November 17, 1944 |
Kaslo
Approximately 1100 Japanesse Canadians were relocated to the internment camp at Kaslo.
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| Kaslo, December 2, 1944 |
Tashme Internment Camp
The Tashme internment camp was located 14 miles from Hope, B.C. The camp housed 2, 300 Japanese Canadians from 1942 to 1945. The camp's name was derived from the first two initials of B.C. Security Commission members
TAylor,
SHine, and
MEad.
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| Tashme Internment Camp to Toronto , April 30, 1943 |
Internal Japanese Canadian mail was censored
Southern Alberta, Sugar Beet Farms
The cover below was mailed by a Japanese correspondent from the southwestern Alberta sugar beet farming area of Barnwell, Alberta to the internment camp at Kaslo, November 24, 1943.
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| Received at Kaslo, December 1, 1943 |
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| Straightline censor handstamp |
