Interviews

1. Lack of political power led to camps

2. Results of being more American than Japanese

3. Family separated in the camps

4. Feeling imprisoned at camp

5. World War II hysteria against Japanese in New York City

6. Institutionalization as a bad aspect of camp

7. Positive experiences with Asian Americans for Action

8. Redress payments to Issei who did not enter camps

9. Waiting for the right time to start Redress Movement

10. State Department records show concern for treatment of Japanese American internees

11. Lack of support from fellow Nikkei lawyers during the war

12. Political motivation to keep the camps open until end of 1944 election

Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

World War II hysteria against Japanese in New York City

When the war broke out, she (my sister) was working, as I recall, for Mitsubishi so, naturally, she lost her job immediately. Her husband lost his job. He had been working at a hospital because he, too, was an Issei—a young Issei. They both lost their jobs. They were stuck in their apartment in New York City for a long time, and through the goodness of other friends, they were able to, at least, get food and eat. I am sure you’ve been told by people who lived in New York at the time that the [city] mayor, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, had announced that “people of Japanese descent walk the streets of New York at their own risk.” He was not protecting them. He was giving no assurance for their safety, so it was scary for them. But eventually, as the hysteria died down and the war turned more in favor of the United States, they were pretty much left alone—the Japanese who lived in New York City.

Date: August 26, 1998

Location: Virginia, US

Interviewer: Darcie Iki, Mitchell Maki

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

Interviewee Bio

Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig was born in Sacramento, California in 1924. Her family immigrated from Kumamoto, Japan in 1919. During the Depression, the Yoshinaga family moved to Los Angeles, California.

During World War II, Aiko was incarcerated first at Manzanar with her husband’s family. She transferred to Jerome, Arkansas with her newborn daughter to be with her family. In 1944, the Yoshinaga family left Jerome and resettled in New York. She divorced and remarried a Nisei soldier. She went with him to Japan where he worked during the Occupation period. One of her husband’s co-workers was her future husband, Jack Herzig.

After her return to the United States, Aiko became involved in Asian Americans for Action. Aiko and Jack played a pivotal role in the Redress Movement through their research at the National Archives in Washington D.C. The documents they found were instrumental in the coram nobis case that vacated the convictions against Fred Korematsu, Min Yasui, and Gordon Hirabayashi. Aiko was also hired as the primary researcher for the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, and then worked for the Department of Justice Office of Redress Administration to help identify individuals eligible for redress payments.

She passed away on July 18, 2018 at age 93. (July 2018)