Interviews

1. Grandfather migrating to Colombia

2. Family having to hide guns during World War II in Colombia

3. Stories of Grandfather at a concentration camp in Fusagasuga

4. Keirokai, the biggest celebration in the Cali Nikkei community

5. Food preparations for Keirokai

6. Japanese reputation in Colombia

7. Her definition of Nikkei

8. Identification as Colombian, feeling closer to JA than Japanese

9. Interracial marriage trends

10. Her grandfather in a concentration camp in Fusagasuga (Spanish)

11. Japanese were treated with dignity during WWII (Spanish)

Teisher,Monica

(b.1974) Japanese Colombian who currently resides in the United States

Japanese were treated with dignity during WWII (Spanish)

(Spanish) The Colombian government had something to do with the protection, so to speak, of the Japanese, because they were respected farmers.

They helped to develop farming practices in Colombia, so they didn’t mistreat them. They treated them with a lot of dignity, I think. His experience, in spite of everything, wasn’t the worst. The family suffered because they were alone and had to figure out how to survive with the head of the household gone. But really, it wasn’t so bad for them, they weren’t mistreated.

Colombia World War II

Date: September 22, 2019

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Yoko Nishimura

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Monica Teisher was born in Cali, Colombia in 1974 to an Issei father and Nisei mother. She and her large extended family were active in the Cali Japanese community, the largest in Colombia. She moved to the United States after marrying a U.S. citizen of Eastern European Jewish descent. They and their daughters spend vacation time in Colombia, participating in community events. (May 2020)