This week’s Topaz Stories are stories that raise questions, some unanswered, some that highlight the insanity of the whole “evacuation.”
In “Alternating Currents,” Nancy Hirabayashi tells the story of her husband Irvin, who went from true-blue Boy Scout in Topaz to “no-no boy,” to war veteran.
Tracy Takayanagi Hui shares “Toddy’s Story,” the story of her father’s journey from “suspected enemy” to OSS (precursor to the CIA) operative during the War.
And then there were “The Other Stories,” the ones that people usually don’t talk
about, as government censorship and Japanese Americans’ self-censorship prevented the publicizing of certain aspects of camp life. Ruth Sasaki shares two that surfaced in conversations with survivors.
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The Topaz Stories Team
Image credits:
Robert and Irvin Hirabayashi. Courtesy of the Hirabayashi family.
The Takayanagi family at their Berkeley nursery. Courtesy of Tracy Takayanagi Hui.
“Barracks” by Chiura Obata. Courtesy of the Estate of Chiura Obata.