Licensing

Granada - asked if she is "human."

To view video, Click Here. Mutsu H. tells her story of talking with a soldier who asked her, "Are you a human being?" while she was incarcerated at Granada.

"Amache camp guarded by very young soldiers. One time soldier stop me and, "Hey you." "You want to talk to me?" He said, "Yeah. Are you a human being?" I said, "Yes. Don't you think so?" "Yeah, you look like a human being, but when I came from South Carolina, they said that Jap is not a human being. They are like a gorilla so if you want to, kill them. That's what I learn I came. And then I looked from top every day and you people look like a human being and you people all wearing beautiful clothes." Because old clothes, we throw that away and then selected one case of, suitcase, good clothes only."

Mutsu H. Interview - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.

Granada was located at 3,600 feet of elevation on a wind-swept prairie in southeastern Colorado 140 miles east of Pueblo, 16 miles east of Lamar, and 15 miles west of the Kansas border. The Arkansas River runs 2 1/2 miles north of the camp, but the 10,500 acres of land is arid when not irrigated. Vegetation includes wild grasses, sagebrush, and prickly pear cactus.

Population Description: Held people from California: Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Clara Counties (Merced and Santa Anita Assembly Centers), northern California coast, west Sacramento Valley, and the northern San Joaquin Valley.

To view facts and photos of Granada (Amache), Click Here to view Densho's interactive Sites of Shame map. Then click on the red dot corresponding to Granada. Courtesy of Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project