Adults in camp tried to make the experience as normal as possible for children. But sometimes they needed a little help.
Jun Nakahara had just been transferred to Mountain View Elementary School in Topaz when, just before the Christmas break, she drew straws and won her classroom’s Christmas tree. But how to get it “home”? The school was in Block 8 and the Nakahara barrack was in Block 20.
She didn’t yet have friends in her new school who offered to help her, so the determined little girl set out, Christmas tree in tow, and eventually managed to bring her family a little Christmas cheer.
Read Jun Nakahara Dairiki’s story, “The Long Haul.”
The Topaz Stories Team
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Media Coverage:
Read Internee’s story told with ‘Topaz Collages’ (Wheel of Dharma, Vol. 5, Issue 3, March 2023).
Watch Topaz survivors tell their stories (abc4 news, 4/22/2022)
Listen to the “In the Hive” podcast with interviews with Ann Dion, Jonathan Hirabayashi, and Topaz survivors Jeanie Kashima and Joseph Nishimura (KCPW, 4/28/2022)
Read How a Utah exhibit about Topaz Camp looks to find empathy in ‘an ugly stain on American history (ksl.com, 4/22/2022)
Read “Topaz Stories rise from the dust,” (Department of Culture & Community Engagement, 4/2022)
Listen to KQED Forum, Day of Remembrance interview with Ruth Sasaki, 2/15/2022
Listen to Max Chang and Ruth Sasaki interviewed (KRCL RadioActive, 2/9/2022
Read On Topaz Stories and ‘Authentic Voice’, the Discover Nikkei interview with Ruth Sasaki (10/14/2022)
Listen to Remembering the Japanese American Incarceration, the Topaz Stories podcast with Ruth Sasaki and Jonathan Hirabayashi (6/2/2021)