We were among the last to leave Topaz because we really didn’t have any place to go. Some people had managed to save their houses, maybe by deeding them to good friends to keep, but we had nothing.
Our church (Sycamore Church in Oakland) had converted a house—a two-story Victorian with full basement in back of the Church—into a hostel to house returning evacuees until they could find permanent living arrangements. So, once again, we squeezed our whole family into one room and ate our meals communally in one large room.
About the contributor: Grace Mori Saito Tom grew up in Chinatown in Oakland, CA. She was 11 and attending Lincoln Elementary School when Pearl Harbor was attacked. The family was sent to Tanforan and later, Topaz. After the War, Grace’s family was among the last to leave Topaz, having nowhere to go. They returned to the San Francisco Bay Area, where the family lived in one room at a church hostel. Grace wrote her memoir in 1999 and passed away the same year.
Copyright 1999, Grace Mori Saito Tom. All rights reserved.