Hey, Weird History lovers - We wanted to share with you the premiere of a new documentary-short series, Family History. Take a look, it is a different type of series that we hope you dig. If you do, leave some friendly comments. Oh, and relax, we have plenty more of your favorite Weird History Explainer videos coming to you this and every week.

I think it was also pretty common where these people after being released from those prisons would return home only to find someone else currently living there and slam the door in their face

I was blessed to have a Japanese English teacher in high school, who knew we weren’t learning about this in history class. So she taught us about the internment camps in the USA. I was shocked, that’s when I learned our country hides the terrible things we have done.

I am very touched that this was received so well. The comments are very receptive. My mother’s family experiences were harsh. When executive order 9066 was issued, her father had a stroke and was incapacitated as a result. The US government sent suits to the house before the family was forced to leave. They had my mother , a 13 year old girl, sign some release type paperwork which gave permission to take her father away. The next time the family saw him, it was at his funeral. She carried that guilt with her to the grave. My auntie was a15 year old little girl and was randomly shot because she was Japanese. My uncles both served in the US military while their families were jailed. When executive order 9066 was issued, they could only take with them one suitcase. They lost their house, their possessions, they gave away their dog and all of their memories. Trying to sell any items was a joke. They received only pennies on the dollar. Imagine right now for a moment, what would you pack if you were told you were being jailed and you could only take one suitcase? My mother was in Gila River where they lived in dirty horse stables. When they finally moved into the barracks, she could remember the guards being able to look down into the latrines while they used them. They had nothing to return to after the war, they had nowhere to go and they were afraid of the anti Japanese sentiment on the west coast, so they relocated to Ohio. I can’t ever watch these stories with out crying. They were US citizens!!! And as so many people have pointed out , none of this was ever touched upon in our schooling. The families that were jailed only reluctantly spoke of their time behind the barbed wire . I found this was very common . Thank you for the video . For those that are hearing this for the first time, thank you for listening.

This is interesting you guys should do more of these

My mother’s side is Japanese and from Hawaii. Her uncle was one of the three Japanese-Americans marine engineers at Pearl Harbor that worked on the huge ships during War World II and because of this they left our family alone and didn’t send them to the camps. He wrote a book about it later on

We need more of this. We never should forget it.

Thank you so much for this! My paternal grandmother was in the camps with her family when she was in her early 20's. What she suffered stayed with her entire life. At the end of her life she suffered from dementia but could always remember what happened in the camps. It was very sad.

I love that the person telling us was really there, more like this if you can Weird History!

My scout master Mr. Takahashi always told us stories of growing up in the internment camp and he even took us to manzanar on an August day coming home from summer camp. Hearing marks voice and seeing his voice gave me chills and took me back. I am wondering if Mark is related to my scout master? The stories seem similar and I am happy they are here for everyone to watch.

Stories about the Japanese Americans and Canadians in the internment camps continuing to be good, hard working people, during and after their brutal treatment at the hands of government and society are some of the most inspiring stories of true grit and strong values in modern society.

They didn't teach this in my history class 🤔

This breaks my heart and pisses me off. They were treating like criminals for no reason. They did not teach about any of this in history classes when I was growing up. I didn't even know it had happened until I moved to California and got into a relationship with a Japanese-American and he told me stories about his grandparents and parents being held in these camps. 💔

My "Godomaza" or Godmother was 9yrs old when Her Family was sent to Manzanar & then Arizona. Her Aunt Nobi is 95, still sharp & tells amazing, though sometimes heartbreaking stories of that time period. Entire Families committed suicide or burned Their Homes & businesses. Some Families had to watch Their neighbors loot their homes because Detainees were only allowed to bring 2 suitcases. It was another in a LONG line of shameful chapters in American history.

This is the best thing this channel has ever done.

Any time our country treats our own citizens less than, is a black mark to our history that should never be erased and never forgotten.

it was incredibly engaging, the personal angle was just what a story like this needs

This is a really interesting view into history thats rarely talked about. Having Ansel Adams come up in the story is amazing, possibly the best photographer of all time. Thank you for this story.

My grandma was in one of those internment camps, the stories she told me are so heartbreaking. This is forgotten history that needs to be remembered!

Really enjoyed this! Would love more of these short documentaries.

Outstanding style of work. I'm baffled by how casual you are about producing quality content. If I were to be a documentary maker, I know who's style I'm mimicking.

History is written by the survivors. They didn't teach this in American schools because this is not on brand with the whole "greatest country in the world" jive.

Wow. I really liked this style of video.

This was a fantastic clip from what seems to be a very humble gentleman. What I saw here was a terrible situation looked back on with understanding of the ignorance of the day. What would you have done if you were in another country and years later your country and the one you live in now go to war?

This is eye opening! I think I will love this new series. Thanks!

As someone of mixed Japanese and British descent, it's weird to think about how different the situations were for the Japanese side of my family versus the British within Canada during WW2 (yes, Canada interned Japanese people too). The British half was fighting in the war and, if we're being honest, probably felt animosity towards the Japanese, while the Japanese half was uprooted and forcibly moved inland to camps that were no more than tents when they arrived. I wonder how my ancestors on both sides would have reacted back then if they found out that so many of their great-grandchildren would be of mixed heritage with the "enemy" or "the people who sent them inland"

Very responsible and respectfully told. Thank you.

How about the Nisei who enlisted, served in the ETO, and won more distinguished medals per soldier than any white unit in the US Army in the whole War? I saw no mention of them.

I found this very interesting. Loved the format.

This is the best video you have made.

Love this so much, thank you.

What an awesome, high quality series

More of these please...so fascinating

Thank you for shining light on this dark part of American history. This is a topic that mainstream media (for the most part) omits or ignores. These were innocent human beings, American citizens, and their stories deserve and need to be heard.

Thanks for sharing their story ❤️

This is a great video. Please do more of this ❤️

I never knew about this! Such an amazing story and sad that it happened.

I appreciate this! Thanks for sharing. I also found out last week from a novel i was reading Japanese also had their own internment camp (Santo Tomas Internment Camp) idk if they had more than that.

I love this type of mini doc video i would love to see more of these

Thanks for this. We know so little about this part of history. I wonder why.

More dark history, of America in particular would be greatly appreciated. Greenwood district Tulsa Ok. Great dismal swamp, would be appreciated on my end. New subscriber really enjoy the channel. Thank you for making history interesting and honest.

This was amazing PLEASE do more like this

I knew of the camps, but I just didn't know just how restrictive and enclosed they were. Thank you for a touching video.

What an amazing video. Wow.

Awesome video

A good friend of our family was born in L.A. a few months before Pearl Harbor was bombed. She spent the first few years of her life a prisoner of the United States. Her family relocated to Indiana after the war where she and her siblings went on to become well educated and leaders in their communities. A truly fine American family.

If you’re lucky enough to still have your grandparents, please talk to them. Ask them everything. Let them tell you their stories.

Very good stuff

Thank you for sharing an intimate historical moment with the world. This is an important message at any time regarding our unjust treatment of one another over amoral belief systems driven by criminal syndicates instead of accepting our common ground in a proactive function for the sake of all life at all times.

i will never understand why they dont teach this stuff in school

George Takei grew up in an interment camp and what was more horrible by the time of war was over many of these Americans lost their real homes and they had nowhere else to go. Talk about an injustice

Great 👍🏼 video

Love it, love it. I hope you can do something like that about the Jim Crow law in US, it can be very educative.

I grew up near the ruins of one of these camps. It’s a drag strip now but you could still see the outlines of buildings. It was pretty creepy.

Descanso Gardens in La Canada- Flintridge, CA used to belong to a Japanese family who had to sell it to go to an internment camp during the war. It's a botanical garden now.

Thank you for this! Japanese are not supposed to talk about hardship, and it's hard to piece together family history without that. This helps fill in much needed gaps. :)

Very moving story.

Order 66...if I'm not mistaken,is the same Order utilized by Emperor Palpatine to annihilate the Jedi

This is so fucking sad, if America can’t do anything else we can do forms of slavery and oppression well this is awful I’m glad he shared his story

I want to know more. I'd love if this was longer.

Thank you 🙏

The guy led a boy scout troop, that's pretty American. By this account, he seemed like a great guy and that's what got him targeted.

My great great grandfather died in one of these camps. The fact that America did this in the first place, and even worse, tried to cover it up, disgusts me.

Love this stuff

Outstanding addition.

I learned about this in my 3rd or 4th grade class (can't remember which, I wanna say it was my 4th grade class cuz my dad at the time had a huge crush on my teacher lol) , but I never really understood it until I was in the 6th grade. There was a book written about a young childs experience and how they coped by playing baseball and had a loving family and it was only a snippet of the story written in a text book. I had questions and went to my local library to read up on this. I didn't quite understand WHY people where persecuted and forced to move. I learned about WWII in 6th grade and always remembered the Americans that where forced to camps. At the same time I learned about the forced removal of Natives (even though they adopted Anglo customs) in Georgia Studies. I didn't grasps the fullness of WWII until the 9th grade where I signed up for JROTC and was genuinely interested in learning about America in wars and outcomes (even though it was never tought in that class I did my own extensive research). I wish more people know about this particular blemish , among many, in American history.

My father was in a Japanese American outfit in World War II he fought in the Pacific he’s the only person I ever heard who hated Roosevelt. But I can totally understand why. Those kids he was serving with; their parents were in concentration camps. It’s absolutely outrageous. And another huge blight on our history.

This shows you that fear can make anyone do something messed up

An experience we all need to know. And not repeat!

how I first learned about Manzanar was from a book I read in high school called Farewell to Manzanar and the women who wrote it was a prisoner in these camps with her family when she was a child. she talks about how she didn’t understand what was happening or why it was happening to them; goes to show how scary it was for children. it’s a great book with a semi happy ending. I recommend it as that book has led me to continue my research today about America’s ww2 prisons for Japanese Americans. any more book recommendations like in this video would be great! thanks!

My family wasn't coastal, so we were blessed. However, my gr. Grandmother lost her citizenship for being married to a Japanese man and it wasn't regained until after she died. They weren't allowed to have maps, binoculars, globes, or cameras. My grandmother remembers (fondly) not having to go to Social Studies classes, though.

Wish i could promote this more somehow. i have always been very interested in the other side. whether it be from thousand of miles away to in country. Thank you for this Sir.

good stuff

How evil can a whole population turn if it feels attacked.

Seems like I’m the only one that got taught about these camps in history class

This is amazing

You don’t hear much about this in school, thank you for bringing light upon a dark time in WW2 and American history.

Awesome short documentary you've made weird history! Especially since the second season of the terror is about the Japanese concentration camps.

When I was 10 my family and I stopped at Manzanar on our way down to San Diego, it was such a desolate place, it was chilling. At our Inn, we met some descendants of a family who were sent there, they apparently stayed in the same town since they had no where else to go.. The museum there was heartbreaking, the amount of shit these people went through. The grave site even more so, all the people who died behind bars..

My Grandparents and Parents went to Heart Mountain. From there they were shipped to Chicago to work in the factories. My parents met in Chicago and married when the War ended. Both sets of families moved back to California.

Crazy how hard we condemn Germany yet this happened in AMERICA.

Where was the geographical location of the Louisiana camp? I'm from Hammond, Louisiana. I heard there was a camp right across the river from Baton Rouge in Port Allen, LA.

I JUST LOVvvvvvvvEEEEE this channel

This was one of your best episodes, in part because it was narrated by someone deeply involved in the experience. Thus it was respectful and didn't include justification for incarcerating American citizens because of their race. I am a Black woman who grew up in L.A. This was the early 70's and our middle school was 1/3 Japanese kids. I knew about World War II but not about what happened to ALL the parents of my Japanese classmates. I thought the kids were secretive about what they did in their culture schools and/or Buddhist church on the weekends. Later when I learned about the real experience, it made total sense. I wasn't truly taught about it in school or university. I learned from reading on my own and the stories of Japanese friends and elders.

The Japanese Americans on Hawaii were not sent to the internment camps. They also made up the bulk of the famous 442 RCT. The most highly decorated of all American regiments.

I visited the camp at Manzanar, CA.

This was dope

Man, that was sad. Never forget.

I know this all as well I my teacher who was great at her job gave a great interview at PBS.

Please do history in the Philippines too 🥺 I really love your channel cos I learn a lot in here than in school, and I want to learn about my country too hehe pls consider it 🥺

Very interesting, can you also do a video about the German internment camps too?

This was interesting

Such fascinating untold stories. There's another about a nisei actress/dancer Sono Osato starred opposite frank sinatra in kissing bandits whose two younger brothers served in 442nd all Japanese volunteer army regiment.

If I was born any earlier, I’d be there.... so crazy.

Whenever i hear of these atrocities it breaks my heart.😢

U k ow what's real bull carp about this? The government didn't do anything like this to the Germans or Italians during the war. And that would have effected my family

What a story muck respect to you. And. Your family that's awful that they went through that being they were Amricans before and after much respect to your family

I’m from the UK. We have never ever learnt about this even though my history teacher was American. I’m shocked and I feel ignorant for only having found out about this today when I started planning my trip to Los Angeles.

love the swell in music makes the mini-documentary more dramatic

If any American think they have any rights they should learn from this page in their country's history. Rights, by definition, are ultimate and they can never be taken away from you. There were good honest Americans in good social standing, their only "crime" was being born a different ethnicity. They were given no trial and no lawyer. Just when these citizens needed their rights the most, the government took them away. Rights are not rights if they can be taken away. All you have are temporary privileges.