Japanese American Incarceration: 1942–1945

Gr 9 Up—This documentary about japanese concentration camps in America during WWII begins with how they came into existence after the bombing of Pearl Harbor IN 1941, with pleasant, but route narration recalling the events. From there, the narrator mentions the National Park Service's involvement in preserving the sites of the camps for both educational purposes and as a memorial to the events that occurred there. While the focus is mainly on Manzanar in California, other parks, such as Tule Lake (CA) and Minidoka (Idaho), receive mention. Attention is also given to the Densho Project, an effort to preserve the memories of those interned at the camps—there are touching and enlightening clips of survivors sharing their stories. Several park rangers also describe their experiences at the various sites, emphasizing again and again the importance of learning about this period in American history so that it will never happen again. It is striking that the camps are called concentration camps and not internment camps, and specific mention is made as to this word choice. The video is helpfully divided into segments, with each camp highlighted, so that viewers can pick and choose. While most of the video would be more useful for public rather than school libraries owing to its focus on the national parks, segments could be used in history classrooms.—Necia Blundy, formerly of Marlborough Public Library, MA